The Many Arrests of the Phantom
by josiahstick
Summary: In the nights leading up to the day of stealing a Treasure, Kurusu Akira always has a disturbing nightmare about a terrible thing happening. Not only that, but Akira is being sought after by the Ace Detective Akechi Goro, and must outfox him in a thrilling game of wits. In doing so, he discovers an assault on his psyche... (not dual-posting anymore. Will be putting the rest on AO3)
1. 5-2-20XX

_**New Opening Note (6/05/2017):**_ This fic is reposted from AO3, where I sense it starting to run out of steam. I am bored and sleepy and people have given me a lot of praise for this but since chapter fourteen I feel like there's just a lot of fatigue goin' on. At least I feel fatigued. But then again I felt fatigued near the end of my first time playing P5, so maybe it's just me.

There are some different things on AO3, like formatting differences and links, and an extra chapter (long story there) that you can go there to see if you like this enough. I lazily copy-pastied this so sorry if there are errors. Without further ado -

* * *

Akira felt dizzy. Very dizzy.

He was disoriented, confused, and he had a sickening, horrifying feeling in his stomach. He sensed that he was in much trouble, and his instincts told him to run far far away, before he encountered this danger - but he could not move. It was as if he was glued to his chair.

Akira was in Leblanc. Sojiro was behind the counter, making coffee and curry as usual. It all looked rather normal, simple. But something was very very wrong. He was in grave danger… but why? He vaguely recalled urgent texts from Ryuji and Ann… his cat, Morgana… Morgana could talk? but Morgana had been talking, as crazy as it seemed. He had been urging Akira, about "time running out," "expulsion," "Kamoshida…" They had all said something about a Palace… something important.

"Hey," Sojiro said, barely snapping Akira out of his confusion. "Coffee good for you?" Akira nodded slowly. Coffee, huh? Something was terribly, terribly wrong. A bell rang, and the door swung open. A policeman and a detective-like fellow entered, and Akira turned his head to meet their cold, unhelpful eyes.

"Kurusu Akira - that is your name, yes?" said the detective-like man. Akira was dumbfounded. What was going on? What had he done? What - what - "What do you want?" he inquired, finally finding the courage to speak.

"My thoughts exactly," chimed in a bewildered Sojiro, "what's this all about? Did you do something?" The officers ignored him. Akira's heartbeat sped up by about fifteen percent. The two men were unmistakably businesslike, and no solace, no hope for rescue from the impending danger, could be found. Were police officers not supposed to help people?

"Charges have been filed against you. The person who raised these allegations is Kamoshida Suguru. I assume you know him?"

Did Akira know a Kamoshida Suguru? Oh right… All his memories came flooding back to him.

He had set out to correct a horrible wrong, to save someone important… from this man. He had… had… "had that been it," continued the man, "we wouldn't be here right now. However, your prior criminal assault means you are currently on probation, correct?"

No… no… no! Akira had to say something, he had to go back to Shujin and… he had to run, he had to gather Morgana and Ryuji and Ann, and they were supposed to help him… help him save Ann and Shiho and Mishima… make Kamoshida confess all his crimes…

"I did nothing wrong," Akira declared, with weak conviction in his deflated voice. He knew as soon as the words left his mouth that they would do him no good.

"Didn't I tell you to behave yourself?!" Sojiro said, sounding furious.

"Well then, you're coming with us. I'm sorry, but it has to be now."

The look in Sojiro's eyes was truly disheartening. He started to say something -

* * *

Akira woke, and bolted upright in his bed, breathing hard, harder than he had in awhile… it was not often that he had bad dreams… He checked the time on his phone.

4/30/2016, 1:32 AM

It was a simple nightmare. Ryuji had written the calling card. It would be delivered today, when school started. Kamoshida was going to see it, the Treasure would appear, and the team would act quickly and take away his distorted desires, just as Morgana had told them. Thus changing his heart and saving himself, Ryuji, and Mishima from expulsion. And Ann from Kamoshida's lust. It was going to work. Or, well, Morgana thought. But the nightmare had felt so real...

He looked over at Morgana, who was lying upon his stomach, sound asleep. Was everything truly okay?  
He opened the group chat on his phone, and began typing a message.

 **Akira:** Is anyone awake?  
 **Ryuji:** I was studying.  
 **Akira:** Oh, sorry to bother… good night.  
 **Ryuji:** Well, no, I was, but I got tired of it. But I can't sleep, so I'm just playing video games now. What's up?  
 **Akira:** Oh… alright, in that case… I had a bad dream.  
 **Ryuji:** Really? Were you naked in front of the class or something?  
 **Akira:** No! It was about Kamoshida.  
 **Ryuji:** Was Kamoshida - like...  
 _Ryuji is typing..._  
 **Akira:** Whatever stupid thing you're about to say, it probably didn't happen. He wasn't even in the dream.  
 **Ryuji:** What?  
 **Ann:** Why are you two making my phone beep at this hour? What's this about a dream?  
 **Akira:** A police officer and some pretentious asshole in a suit came over to arrest me because of something Kamoshida did.  
 **Ann:** WHAT?!  
 **Ryuji:** Seriously? Holy shit! What the fuck, man! What else happened?  
 **Akira:** I wanted to run, but I couldn't move. I was stuck to the chair, somehow. And then they told me I had to come with them. Then I woke up.  
 _Ryuji is typing…_  
 _Ann is typing…_  
 **Akira:** It felt so real. I was horrified.  
 _Ryuji is typing…_  
 **Ryuji:** Well, whatever, dude, don't worry about it. We're going to take away that bastard's pervy heart and everything's going to be just fine. Thanks for talking about what happened though. Don't sweat it.  
 **Ann:** Yeah, it's all going to be fine in the morning. That sounds super intense though. Good thing it didn't really happen…  
 **Akira:** Yeah… it very well might have if we had screwed up.  
 **Ryuji:** Well, tomorrow we're taking the Treasure, so it's probably a good idea to get a good night's rest.  
 **Ann:** Says the guy who stays up at one in the morning playing video games.  
 **Ryuji:** Well… !

Akira laughed out loud, and smiled.

 **Akira:** Do as you say, not as you do, I suppose. Heh. Well, good night!

Akira put away his phone and did his best to go back to sleep. Still, something bothered him about that dream… But he didn't dwell on it long - Ryuji and Ann had done a good job cheering him up. He hadn't known them very long, but they were his first friends in Tokyo, and he knew he could count on them. Soon enough, Akira had just about forgotten the vivid, awful nightmare - and was slumbering soundly.

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (published on AO3 5/18/2017):**_ So, basically I was thinking about all the horrifying bad endings in Persona 5 which occur if you fail to complete one of the dungeons. In the game, most of them are explained by the MC being on drugs during his interrogation, so if you fail to complete a dungeon, you fail to tell Sae the whole truth, meaning you fail to follow through with the escape plan and get killed by (spoilers) Akechi. I was wondering, where the hell did this come from? Probably from Akira being afraid of failing, and his imagination running wild as to what might happen if he and the Phantom Thieves didn't succeed. I thought it would be interesting to explore what exactly was running through his mind while all of it played out, and how it might play into the possible false recollections.

I know this isn't much, but I mostly wanted to introduce the concept and get it started. I'll probably go more into some other areas besides Akira's room, so every single chapter doesn't begin and end like this. Don't want it to get boring, of course. Not sure what I'll introduce into the story, though. If anything NSFW comes of it I'll update the description.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this thus far!


	2. XX-XX-20XX …?

_Where am I… what's my name… what year is it?_

Many Xs swam in front of Akira's eyes. He couldn't be certain of what had happened… why? He was forgetting something important… extremely important. Something that would make or break his fate. He needed to help. He needed to… it… It was hot in the stuffy underground chamber, and his face was moist with perspiration. Akira felt like he was literally sweating blood. He was so far gone into his thoughts, he wouldn't have known the difference if he was.

"Kurusu Akira!" yelled a familiar woman's voice. "Focus! Eyes on me! I need to know -"

She shook his shoulders vigorously, trying to snap him out of it. Akira rubbed his eyes, regained his senses momentarily, and locked eyes with Niijima Sae.

"The man in the coffee shop…" he began, but Niijima cut him off.

"What man? You were telling me about how you stole Kamoshida's Treasure - do you need a moment?"

"No! Please! Don't leave!" Akira yelped instinctively. "My story isn't over yet!" He knew somehow, that, if she left, it would be very bad. Very very bad. Until he remembered what he was forgetting, Niijima Sae's presence in the interrogation chamber was to be his only salvation from ruin. If she dismissed him now…

Niijima looked baffled and skeptical. Reinvigorated by his sudden desperation, Akira fought to recall the truth. That's right, the man in the coffee shop had been a nightmare. He couldn't afford to mix up his imagination with reality now. As Niijima had already told him, if he gave a false testimony, they would both be screwed… in more ways than one.

He cleared his mind as best he could, and continued his story.

* * *

5/5/2016

Ryuji and Akira were waiting in front of the elevators. They had just been to the bathrooms, and Ryuji had regurgitated what Akira estimated to be roughly a third of his meal into the toilet. "I totally panicked when I saw the "Closed for Cleaning" sign…" Ryuji said.

Akira felt a similar fatigue. He hadn't exactly consumed a healthy quantity of food either. "You were talking big about eating until you puked, but then you really did puke. Are you some kind of moron?" inquired Morgana, to which Akira laughed out loud.

"Morgana, you puked too, you know. And then we had to clean it up."

"Oh yeah… remind me to never do that again," Ryuji added. He had been thoroughly disgusted by the cat's barf. Morgana scowled at him, but for the time being he chose to ignore it. "What floor was the restaurant on?" he wondered, turning his attention to the elevator.

"Well, we came up to get here…" Morgana reasoned. "It has to be below us." Akira nodded in agreement. "Why don't we check the directory?" he asked.

"Where was there a directory?" asked Morgana. "I didn't see one anywhere…"

"Me neither," Ryuji said.

"Really? I could have sworn I saw one at the entrance…" Akira mused. He was interrupted from said musings when five men in suits approached the elevators and pushed Ryuji and Akira out of the way.

"What the… !" Ryuji was incredulous.

Akira was of a similar attitude about the situation. "Who do these guys think they are?!"

"There's still no update on the case?" said a bald man with orange-tinted sunglasses. One of the other men, evidently his subordinates, responded in the negative.

Their discussion continued for a second, but Ryuji, still furious at having been so rudely shoved away, spoke up. "Hey!" he protested, "you're cutting in line!"

"What do you want?" asked one of the men, turning their attention to Ryuji and Akira.

"Pardon the interruption, _sirs_ ," said Akira slowly, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "but we were here first."

The bald man's lackey looked annoyed. "We're in a hurry." he said dismissively.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Ryuji shouted. "So you can butt in front of other people, if you're in a hurry?!"

In consensus with Ryuji, Akira added, "There's more than one elevator, you know, for improving traffic. Something special about this one in particular?"

"It seems the customer base has changed since I was here last. Have they started a daycare?" asked the bald man. At hearing this, Ryuji looked even more furious. The door to the elevator opened. As the pretentious man and his followers entered, Ryuji attempted to shove past them but was roughly knocked aside. "Don't bother with them!" the bald man said.

Akira froze up, and his prior cocky demeanor instantly vanished. He had heard that voice somewhere before… Why couldn't he remember? It was… back in… 20XX? He had… had… that man… who was he? "I just can't forgive shitty adults like that!" he heard Ryuji say, but the words barely registered. Akira was deep in thought…

"What's wrong?" Ryuji asked. Akira felt awfully nauseous. Perhaps it was because he had eaten so much…

"Hey! Earth to Akira!"

Akira shook his head. "Sorry. Just a bit lightheaded."

It was probably just his imagination, plus all his anxiety over that dream… and so narrowly getting away from the Palace and all. That man was just… some really pretentious asshole. Everything was totally fine.

* * *

 _Where am I… my head hurts…_

 _Oww._

 _What?_

 _"The person who raised these allegations…"_

 _"Sorry… it has to be now."_

 _"God, what a disappointment…"_

* * *

Akira awakened once again, feeling his pulse quickening. He was alright… was he?

Could he trust his own memory? He wasn't quite sure of it. That man… what was so important about him? He tried to tell himself it was nothing, but - he just wasn't sure. Forgetting simple things, he could understand. Forgetting the time, an exam question, a random name or face. Forgetting a critically relevant name and face, though… that was something else. Was something wrong with him?

"Are you alright?"

Morgana was awake. He looked genuinely concerned. "You've been really out of it lately. Ever since those jerks at the elevators told us off. Something bothering you?"

Akira wondered how to reply. He couldn't be sure if this even was something worth worrying about… "I don't know," he decided. "It's probably nothing."

"Then go back to sleep," Morgana said, "we have a big day tomorrow." Akira didn't think it was that important. But to Morgana, apparently, every day was a big day. He was not inclined to argue at the moment, so he resumed his restless slumber.

 ** _Original endnote (published on Ao3 5/20/2017):_** Thanks to all of you who have left kudos or comments. This has been quite fun to write, so far, and I'm looking forward to integrating some of the other events from the game's story into this fic. I have a bunch of different ideas for what might happen with Akira and his state of mind, how subtle details in the game might be influenced by how he sees the world. I saw a comment on Reddit recently saying the way that the drugs were used as a plot device were way too convenient - since basically he only forgot the most important thing he could have possibly forgotten. The main reason why I decided to write this was because I just really like the way the game told its story and wanted to expand on that, but I suppose you could also look at it as a fix for that plot hole of sorts.

This is pretty short. I would have liked it to be longer, and could have written way more, but this just feels like a good place to cap this chapter. I thought I would be able to extend it, but I just couldn't quite string together everything I had in mind. Anyways, I hope this is interesting!


	3. 6-5-20XX

_My head hurts…_

"Kurusu Akira. That is your name, yes?"

"Nope."

"Don't play dumb with us… ! Anyway, charges have been filed against you. The person who raised these allegations is Madarame Ichiryusai. I assume you know him?"

"Never heard of him before."

The pretentious asshole in a suit smacked Akira across the face. _Ouch._ But he continued to react to them defiantly.

"You're coming with us! I'm sorry, but it has to be now."

"Oh, it can be later, I assure you. We can wait forever and ever and ever..."

"Excuse me?"

Akira stood up off of his chair. He now remembered who he was and what he had to do. There was a flash of blue, and his clothes changed to his Phantom suit. He no longer felt confused and dizzy - he felt truly alive. "Don't you have better things to do than trying to apprehend a Phantom Thief?" he asked sardonically, scowling arrogantly at the officials. "Sorry to disappoint, but it's a total waste of time. This is my dream. I can wake up, anytime I want. I can make you leave this coffee shop - which I will, right about now. And then I will have myself a nice cup of coffee."

The men looked absolutely bewildered by Joker's statements. The man in a suit attempted to handcuff him, but the cuffs melted into thin air. The policeman lunged, trying to forcibly restrain the gallant thief - but he passed straight through as though he were but a ghost.

"Gentlemen! I have done nothing wrong," declared Joker confidently. "I am only on the right side of justice. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

A bell rang, and Yusuke entered Leblanc, looking furious.

Akira turned, and gasped at this unexpected entrance - then reappeared in his chair. He looked down at his now ordinary clothes - he was no longer Joker. He was simply Kurusu Akira, trapped in his chair once again, and Sojiro…

"Coffee good for you?"

Yusuke turned to Akira and spoke with a most charged anger in his voice. "What," he demanded to know, "Have you awful Phantom Thieves done to my Sensei?!"

Akira was confused and dizzy again. "Uh. You, you helped us… steal his heart…"

"Such slander! I would never do such a thing as forcefully twist one's will!" Yusuke pulled out his cell phone. "I'm reporting you to the police!"

Akira called out in protest, but it was too late -

* * *

Akira awoke once again, breathing fast and hard. He looked around his musty attic room. No officers. No Yusuke. Just an aging book with a distinguished odor, which he had checked out from the Shujin library, sitting upon the floor beside his bed. It was entitled _How to Master the Art of Lucid Dreaming._ Right… Akira had found it just last week. The book had been sitting upon a neglected shelf, among a host of others that, in Morgana's words, smelled "weird." It made sense that no one had touched it, or any of its neighbors - one could be forgiven for believing the books on that shelf to be a sanitation hazard. Nevertheless, it had been a very helpful read. Well worth the smell.

Satisfied that he was awake and in no danger, he calmed his nerves and thought through what he had just now experienced.

The date was 5/25/2016, and the time was 2:12 AM.

Akira was no longer very afraid of his nightmares. He believed he had learned to conquer them. Now, each time they occurred, he simply refused. He rebelled against them. Just as he would rebel against this awful society in reality. He had to not let his fears defeat him.

But Yusuke's appearance in his dream had been unexpected, and very much surprised Akira. Why had this happened? What was he afraid of regarding Yusuke?

Akira was glad that Yusuke had, at long last, opened his eyes to the truth. But he had been genuinely concerned that they were making an enemy of him, particularly when he threatened to report them to the police. It could have proved a serious problem if the very person they were trying to save had continued to turn away their help. But Ann had helped expose the truth to him, and for that he was grateful. One less person to have nightmares about.

Or so he had believed. His subconscious mind was evidently not as easy to appeal to as his conscious, logical mind.

As far as Akira could recall, this was the first time anyone besides Sojiro and the officers coming to arrest him had been present in his nightmares. So he was afraid that Yusuke would betray them. This was an interesting development. He would have to learn to psychologically distinguish this false image from the real Yusuke, and fight back against that fear, the same as he had done for the pretentious asshole in a suit.

* * *

Later that morning, Akira stood idly, waiting for his transfer over to the Ginza line in Shibuya. A diligent-looking student with short brown hair wearing a Shujin uniform approached him, and he turned his attention to her, wondering what on earth she wanted with him this time.

Niijima Makoto, the Shujin Academy student council president, had a severe case of bedhead - evidently she had been in a hurry, for some reason. She appeared all-at-once flustered, irritated, and determined. "Ah, Kurusu-kun. We meet again." she said.

Akira bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Good morning, Niijima-senpai. Can I help you?"

Makoto nervously replied, "Oh, nothing in particular. I was just concerned. I couldn't help but notice that you've been keeping a low profile lately. Why is that?"

She'd noticed? Hm… how was he going to talk his way out of this? If she was already watching them, trying to be inconspicuous would be useless. It seemed there was no end to Makoto's suspicion. At this point, Akira supposed it could only be diverted if he were to do something so clearly and blatantly suspicious that she took him for a fool and dismissed him.

"What are you talking about?" Akira feigned cluelessness. "I'm acting the same as usual. I'm notorious for being a delinquent and I have no friends. It's not like I have any good reason to draw attention to myself. Although I guess that's not so different from your situation…" This wasn't technically untrue.

At Akira's comparison between them, Makoto recoiled. "Uh - I suppose -"

"Don't get me wrong. I sympathize with your situation. Being an honor student and a supposed criminal - we must experience similar levels of alienation from our peers."

She did not look pleased by this conjecture. "Uh…" Makoto looked at her watch nervously. "I - uh - have -"

"My apologies, senpai - am I not correct in my thinking? I suppose it is kind of early, and I didn't sleep too well last night…"

Again, not an untrue statement. However, it clearly did not do well to ease Makoto's nerves. "I don't know what your talking about! I apologize for prying, Kurusu-kun - it must have been my imagination. There are so many suspicious things going on lately…" With that, Makoto turned and fled to the other end of the platform, disappearing into the crowd.

"Suspicious? You don't say…" Akira muttered.

* * *

The following day, Akira found his mind wandering as he rode the train from Yongen-Jaya. The previous day, he had planned on gathering the Phantom Thieves and setting out to secure a route to the Treasure, but Sojiro had asked for his help in the shop when he returned. So it had had to be today, instead.

The week which had transpired thus far had not been particularly exciting. At least, not since Yusuke had joined their team and pledged to assist them in stealing his sensei's distorted desires. Akira wondered about that for a moment - was he sure that Yusuke's feelings on the matter were true? There was that dream, after all...

Akira wandered through Shibuya at a leisurely pace, lost in his reverie. So lost, in fact, that he almost bumped into Yusuke, of all people. "Oh! Hey, Yusuke."

"Akira, my friend! What a delight to see you. Shibuya is markedly quieter at this hour of the morning…"

"Really?" Akira looked around. Yusuke was right… there were quite a few less people around than during the later hours of the afternoon. The atmosphere felt more… mellow, somehow. "I never thought about much… I guess I haven't been living here that long, so I wouldn't really know."

"Understandable," said Yusuke. "I've encountered many people who have lived here for years, and still don't take notice of such details. Sensei for instance…" Yusuke looked contemplative for a minute.

"Oh! That reminds me - Are we by any chance going to visit Sensei's Palace today?"

"Probably, yeah," Akira affirmed. "But I wanted to talk to you about something first."

"Oh?"

Akira hesitated for a moment, considering carefully how to phrase his words. "Do you feel alright with this? Changing his heart and all?"

"Hmm…" Yusuke thought it over. "It is a rather important decision… he is my guardian after all…" He thought for a moment more, then spoke with conviction. "But I think yes. I assure you, I have set aside any reservations I may have previously had on the matter." Akira breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, just a dream. As always, his fears had no merit in reality.

"Why do you ask? Did something happen? Are you not feeling up to it any longer?"

Akira paused once again. Was he feeling up to it? Well, of course he was. He'd felt up to it from the beginning. But - his dream had made him nervous. Something felt off... But it was probably his imagination. Yusuke's attitude seemed genuine, and he doubted that he would betray the team and vehemently deny his involvement as he had done in the nightmare.

"No, I'm cool. I just wanted to make sure you were sure. It did seem you were pushed into this rather suddenly. I thought you would appreciate the opportunity to change your mind."

Yusuke responded with an understanding smile. "Thank you, Akira. I do, very much, but my mind has been made up. Sensei has committed no end of horrible atrocities. I would not feel right if I simply let it be."

"Good to hear." Akira was now certain that everything was perfectly fine. "I feel the same way. Okay, let's meet up and go to the Palace today! I'll let the others know."

"Excellent. I shall see you after school then."

The train to Aoyama-Itchome arrived, and Akira moved to board it. Yusuke began to follow him. "Wait!" Akira said. "Don't you go to a different school?"

"Oh!" Yusuke looked mildly embarrassed by his error. "My apologies, I was distracted. Yes, the train to Kosei High is elsewhere… how foolish of me." Akira laughed. "No problem. See you later!"

* * *

As he made his way to the Shibuya underground accessway, where the Phantom Thieves were to rendezvous, Morgana whispered in his ear urgently. "Akira! Hold it. I think that girl is following us again." Akira turned his head slightly, searching for the stalker. He found himself laying eyes upon Niijima Makoto - the Shujin Academy student council president, of all people.

Makoto was wearing her usual Shujin uniform, and had her face buried in a manga volume of some sort. Akira didn't recognize the name on the cover, but it didn't look like something a student council president would ordinarily read to pass the time, and certainly not in a crowded place like this, standing up, walking among a busy crowd. If she really was reading it like that, she was posing a danger to herself. Something that a competent, levelheaded student council president would never do.

Morgana was almost certainly right. The president was tailing Akira, and not doing a very subtle job of it, either. "We can't meet with the others if we have her watching…" Morgana said, evidently worried. "Find a way to shake her off!"

Akira smirked. "Okay! Time to bust my moves."

"What?"

"No need to fret. I've got a plan." Akira said, grinning like an idiot. Outrunning a terribly unstealthy student council president was bound to be exciting.

"Um…" Morgana seemed doubtful. "Okay, well, good luck. Just try to make sure she doesn't suspect anything."

Akira walked a ways, made a right, and casually entered a large swarm of subway passengers who had just gotten off the train, all of whom were heading in the opposing direction. As he made his way through them, whistling nonchalantly, he ducked his head below the sea of people and put on a baseball cap, so as to conceal his black hair and make himself harder to track.

Akira made another turn and found himself in the underground mall area, then had a brilliant idea. "Hang on a second… I'm going to buy something!"

"What?!" said Morgana, incredulously. "This is no time for shopping!"

"Ha, don't worry, it's all part of the plan…"

* * *

Several long minutes later, Kurusu Akira emerged from the Teikyu Building and into Shibuya Square, wearing his baseball cap, blue tinted sunglasses and a long trenchcoat - which, he thought, was not very unlike his Phantom coat. It was of a simpler design, and beige colored with red patches on the sleeves. To the average onlooker, it may have appeared rather goofy, especially considering that it was completely inappropriate for the current climate. But, in Akira's opinion, it was rather stylish.

He had never been seen wearing such a thing at school, or anywhere else for that matter, so he was certain this would make him harder to identify among the mass of commuters in Shibuya. Though Morgana had disapproved of this effort, claiming it to be overkill and a waste of time and money, Akira was rather pleased with himself. "Is she still onto us?" he asked discreetly.

Morgana sighed. "After all that? … Yeah. She was one step behind us the whole time."

"Damn it!" Akira said. "Like, she still sees us, or she just has a general idea of…"

"She sees us," Morgana clarified. "She's staring right at me. I am not comfortable with this! Try to get rid of her again. Don't stop to buy any more clothes, okay? It'll just slow you down."

Much as he hated to admit it, Morgana was probably right. Akira had spent longer than he'd intended picking up his newfound camouflage kit. In fact, his strategy was quite possibly as ridiculous as Makoto's. Ha! some Phantom Thief he was.

Ah well, great minds think alike, right? He couldn't just simply run away, he would need to outwit Niijima Makoto in order to escape from her sights. "Morgana," he asked, "if you were Miss President, where would you expect me to go next?"

"That's difficult to say. I don't know what Miss President knows about us. Shouldn't you know that better than me?"

"Let's assume she knows everything."

"Everything? Phantom Thieves and all?"

"Yeah. So, around this time - where would we go?"

Morgana mulled over it a minute. "Central Street? Madarame's house? On the train to go home?"

"Hm… the train! That's it!" Akira grinned. "We have to break away from her line of sight, then board the train in the opposite direction!"

"Uhh… I'm not sure that will work. Where exactly are we going?"

"Shujin! There's no reason why I would go back to school, now is there? I mean, I'm the infamous delinquent transfer student, so she wouldn't expect me to stick around focusing on my studies, now would she?"

"Are you sure about that? You studied in the library just last -"

Akira ignored his cat and rushed back into the underground.

* * *

It took a good many minutes, but Akira was now certain that Niijima Makoto had lost pursuit of him. He found a hiding spot in the alleyway and swiftly removed his trenchcoat, hat, and sunglasses. Upon removing the third item, he remembered his actual glasses - the ones he wore to not draw attention to himself.

Would people recognize him without them? He didn't actually need them to see - they were his disguise, so, by simple logic, they could easily become his un-disguise, of sorts. He took them off and stuffed them inside his bag along with the other items.

"Aggggh!" yelled Morgana. "You're crushing me in here!" The lump that was his companion cat and guide wormed its way above the clothes and showed its face to protest. "Why do you keep so much things in here? It's bad enough that I have to suffer all the tiny space in your desk, but this is insufferable!"

"Sorry!" said Akira. "I'll try to pack more efficiently when I'm not in a pinch like this trying to lose -"

Someone bumped into him. Akira heard someone yelp, and fell over face-first onto the sidewalk, leaving his bag in a very inconvenient position between his stomach and the pavement. "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOHFGGGWWW!" screeched Morgana.

Akira turned his head and saw someone's hand to his left. In the hand, there was what looked like a manga volume of some sort. Akira didn't recognize the name on the cover, but it didn't look like something a - a -

A student council president was on top of Akira, who was on top of Morgana, who was on top of the sidewalk, who was on top of the earth, which was, naturally, crushing Morgana. Wait, what was Akira thinking? Since when was a sidewalk a "who?"

Akira coughed and spat dirt out of his mouth. "Uh, Niijima-senpai - what are you doing? Could you please get off of me?"

Makoto pushed herself up off of Akira. Akira likewise stood up to make eye contact with her. She seemed rather flustered, but she fought to maintain her usual formal attitude. "Ah! Uh - er, Kurusu-kun. My apologies. Is your cat okay?"

"Yeah, uh, he's fine." Morgana groaned weakly in protest, all the wind having been knocked out of him. He was clearly not fine, but Akira ignored him. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Why did you suddenly tackle me like this?"

"Uh, I was just keeping an eye out… and, I was so engrossed in my reading. It's such a good read. I was also looking out for your... your well-being. And I just happened to accidentally trip and fall on top of you."

Akira pretended to look surprised. "Oh, so you were stalking me?"

"No! Uh, I have to look out for the well being of my peers. It's part of my duty as student council president… not that you would understand…"

"Oh, no, I **completely** understand." Akira said knowingly, smirking at her. "You have to keep an eye out for, y'know, suspicious activity, am I right?"

Makoto clearly knew she'd been cornered. "Uh, er… I'm sorry, Kurusu-kun, but, I must be going. I hope I didn't offend you…"

"Oh no, please, don't worry about it," said Akira. "Is there any way I can help?"

"Uhhh… I'm sorry - No thank you. I'll see you at school tomorrow." Makoto picked up her manga, put her face back in it, and turned away to leave. But before she could depart, Akira reached out and lowered the cover. Makoto was obviously very nervous.

"You really like that book," said Akira kindly. He closed his eyes, leaned in over the pages, and locked lips with the president.

Makoto's face lit up a bright shade of reddish crimson, not dissimilar to the color of Joker's gloves. She stood there for a solid three seconds, looking dumbfounded, and then ran away in a hurry. Akira put on his trademark mischievous scowl. "Suspicious activity, am I right?"

"What did you do that for?" Morgana nearly shouted in surprise.

"You'll see."

He checked the time. Just about an hour had passed since his quest to escape Makoto's pursuit had begun. Perfect - there was just enough time left to visit the Metaverse. He opened up the group chat and sent a quick message.

 **Akira:** Sorry about the wait, I was busy eluding a rather passionate pursuer. Let's go to to the Palace!

* * *

"FOR REAL?!" yelled Ryuji.

"Ryuji!" Ann said reproachfully. "Quiet down!"

Akira was now back at the Shibuya accessway with his teammates. "Do you see her now, Morgana?" he asked.

Morgana took a couple of seconds to look around… beat… beat…

"Nope. It looks like you lost her. But why -"

"As soon as she found us the third time, I knew it would be useless to keep trying to get away from her with ordinary methods," Akira explained matter-of-factly. "We would have been at it all day. I figured if I took advantage of the situation, I could get her to leave us alone herself out of embarrassment. And it worked. Did you see how red she was, Morgana? It was kind of cute, actually…"

"I would have liked to have seen that for myself…" mused Yusuke. "It sounds like a color worth capturing."

"You call buying a ridiculous coat and sunglasses an _ordinary method_?" said Ann. "But, oh well… you got rid of her, I guess, so, mission accomplished? Akira, you are one daring gentleman. But what if she reports you? I hear her sister works with the prosecutor's office! You could be in huge trouble if this gets out!"

"Prosecuted, for stealing a kiss?" Akira laughed, ridiculing the notion. "She won't want to draw attention to herself over something so frivolous," he assured them all confidently. "It'd cause her more trouble than it's worth, and people might spread rumors about us, which I'm certain she knows full well wouldn't serve to benefit anyone."

Morgana chuckled. "That's a rather clever line of thinking. It's very admirable how quickly you think on your feet!"

"Thank you," said Akira. He was extremely pleased with himself - even more so than he had been when he had changed his attire.

The whole team was impressed at his wild story. "Well," said Yusuke, "it seems as if we shall have to keep our eyes out for this student body president and her ludicrous reading material of preference. We seem to be rid of her for today, however, so shall we get going?"

"Hell yeah!" said Ryuji.

With that, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts entered Madarame's Palace to pull off their first official job as a team.

* * *

"Coffee good for you?"

The bell rang, the door opened, the men entered. The police officer and pretentious asshole in a suit were back. "Kurusu Akira. That is your name, yes?" Akira couldn't say anything. He knew it would be useless to fight his arrest.

"We received an anonymous tip from a fellow student of yours. She has good reason to suspect you of being one of the Phantom Thieves. You're coming with us…"

"You really screwed up…" said Sojiro.

And then as Akira was being handcuffed, to be brought to this false justice… the door opened again. Niijima Makoto entered, glaring at Akira. She was wearing her average school uniform, but her eyes were nightmarishly unforgiving and utterly menacing. She looked like she wanted to cave his face in. It was utterly terrifying.

"I knew it was you," she said. "No one else would try something that bold… or that stupid."

* * *

Akira bolted upright in bed, breathing heavily.

Everything was alright. Makoto had not reported him. She wasn't going to. She couldn't prove anything… right? Right?

Was this because he kissed her? Was he anxious about that? Hmm… No, of course not. What a ridiculous reason to have a nightmare. He had no qualms about initiating that kiss, and as he had said, he was certain there was no need to worry about that specifically.

No, it was because he feared that Makoto knew the truth, and that Ann might be right about her possibly reporting him to the school - or worse, her prosecutor sister. Perhaps Makoto would not care about the trouble it might bring her. Perhaps she hated the Phantom Thieves, and would bring them to justice at any cost. But that was highly unlikely. Niijima Makoto was not the impulsive type. Anyway, even if she did report them, she had no proof. And Akira had successfully discouraged her from obtaining such proof. There was absolutely nothing to worry about!

The route to Madarame's Treasure had been secured, the calling card would be prepared and sent tomorrow. The Phantom Thieves had pulled off their infiltration flawlessly. There was no need to worry… nothing was going to happen. No one would catch them. No one _could_ catch them, they were Phantom Thieves after all.

So why did Akira feel so uneasy?

Unsure of himself as always, he went back to sleep.

* * *

Akira awakened in chains.

 _The Velvet Room…_

He looked around his cell - it looked immaculate, the same as he had left it, the last time he had been here. Caroline and Justine were waiting. "Our master would like to share a few words with you," said Justine softly. "Pay him your utmost attention, inmate!" Caroline barked.

Akira looked out through the bars. Igor was observing him, the usual bemused expression on his bizarre face. "You have been having… visions." said Igor. "It may not seem so, but they are important…"

Akira grimaced. "Did you give me these visions? Are they a Metaverse thing?"

Igor laughed haughtily. "No, no. They are but ordinary dreams, simple figments of your imagination, mixed in with elements of your memories, emotions, average daily anxieties and the like. They have no technical correlation to your experiences in the cognitive world. However…" he adopted a curious, intrigued look. "Your memories are important. They will one day, be your salvation… or the catalyst of your ruin."

Akira was lost. "I don't understand…"

As always, Igor was not fazed in the slightest by Akira's confusion. "You will need to navigate a perilous path through your own mind, to uncover the truth and save your future… do not worry. It will all become clear to you in time."

"Time's up, inmate!" shouted Caroline, and a loud bell rang. The Velvet Room began to fade from existence.

"Remember," said Justine, with gentle urgency. "Remember this! You will need your memories…"

* * *

 _ **Original end note (published 5/20/2017 on Ao3):**_ I got the idea for the Makoto/Akira kiss from [a fan comic which I linked to in the Ao3 version, but can't link to from here]. I wanted to introduce Makoto into the story to help set up the next chapter, and this was a pretty fun way to go about it! I guess I have to tag this Akira/Makoto now, heh. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this newest installment. Ciao!


	4. 6-10-20XX Dream Coffee

_**Original opening note (published 5/21/2017 on Ao3):**_ This chapter introduces Akechi into the plot. It doesn't actually cover any of the bad endings, though the fifth or sixth chapter most probably will. I've got another of my own ideas for the fifth chapter, but I might find space to cover the Kaneshiro ending in there. Basically, Akira's dreaming about everyone.

* * *

Those lips looked familiar… How many times had he… uh. The pres - no - the pros - Oh right. Stands to reason that sisters would share the same lips… what? What the hell was Akira thinking? It must have been the drugs.

Niijima Sae asked him a question, but it barely registered. He was trying to remember something… but the wrong memory kept surfacing. He kept recalling instead, things like Ryuji's concert, his shogi lessons with Hifumi, how he needed to increase his social stats… What on earth were social stats? It must have been something Futaba said.

"What… id you say… out Ma… o?"

Akira was brought back to reality again, and he looked over at Sae, who was observing him with a mix of fierce determination and irritated impatience. "Who? Morgana?"

"No! My sister!"

"Oh, that's not important yet. Don't worry about it."

Sae looked pretty pissed off. "I decide what's important about this case! Now tell me what happened!"

"Well, I'm sure your colleagues would ridicule you for considering some nut overdosed on drugs rambling about a talking cat morphing into a bus to be this important, yet here you are." Akira shot back.

Sae sighed. She had to admit that he actually had a point there…

"Fine. What happened next?"

* * *

The change of heart had worked, and Madarame had now confessed everything. As expected, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts' first official mission had been a smashing success. Akira sat back and relaxed, checking his texts, thinking of all the good things to come. But yet… he sensed that all was not quite well - soon enough, very soon in fact, a new task would come for the Phantom Thieves. A powerful enemy would challenge them, and they would need to rise to the occasion.

… What the hell was he thinking? This wasn't a video game! Was he…

"Coffee good for you?"

Akira yelped and nearly fell off his chair. Sojiro looked concerned. "What's the problem? Did I scare you?" Heh… yeah, Boss had given him quite a good scare…

Akira recalled the year… 2016. Okay, cool, not a dream. For some reason he was never able to properly remember the year in his dreams. It always came to him as "20XX." But nope, it was 6/6/2016, about 6:30 AM, and Akira was just about ready to leave for school.

"Yeah, Boss, I'm alright. I was just really kinda zoned out for a minute and you startled me." He composed himself and realigned his posture. "Coffee with curry is fine."

Sojiro poured a cup of coffee, plated the curry, and served Akira his breakfast. After eating, he thanked Sojiro and left.

* * *

Makoto hadn't been following Akira as studiously anymore. She still used the same manga - though, sometimes only different issues of the same manga. It made her easy to spot in a crowd, and Akira would always scowl mischievously - before quickly detaching himself from her sight. Doing so was much easier than it had been in the past, as Makoto now kept the distance between them a good bit wider.

Today, however, was not such a day. After school, Makoto was nowhere in sight. She had stopped? Hm. Interesting turn of events… anyhow, he decided not to worry. Not too important. Perhaps she had simply given up. About time too…

Akira heard a lot of chatter on the way to the Ginza line.

 _A calling card…_

 _Phantom Thieves? Are they for real?_

 _How does one steal another's heart? I'd like to try it out, myself._

 _I don't know about this job…_

 _That artist dude was just an attention-seeking phony._

"Mornin'!"

Ryuji was still wearing his regular uniform. Akira thought it to be incredibly amusing, but made a concentrated effort to contain his laughter. "Everyone's talkin' about Madarame!" said Ryuji triumphantly.

"Seems so." Akira agreed. "I heard someone saying he was a phony."

"Well, they might be right about that, but not just him - US, man! Everyone's going on about the calling card! We did such a great job!" Ryuji was ecstatic.

"Well, I wouldn't celebrate quite yet." Akira cautioned him, still struggling to keep himself from laughing at Ryuji's state of misdress. "Most of them are still pretty skeptical. And besides, we aren't doing this for fa -"

Ryuji wasn't really listening. "We scored big, man! I think girls are checkin' me out. Must be because of my phantom charisma - uh -"

Akira couldn't control himself anymore. He let out a few suppressed chuckles. Ryuji looked confused. "What's so funny? Say, Akira, you look a bit different -"

"Yeah," said Akira, "doesn't everyone?"

And then it hit him. "Oh crap! We were supposed to switch to summer uniforms today!" Ryuji's face fell.

"It's alright," said Akira, "I brought an extra, you can change into it at school."

"Oh, uh, no thanks," said Ryuji. "I mean, no offense, but I don't really want to wear your clothes… I'm just gonna go back home and change there."

"You sure?" Akira asked him. "I've never worn it. It's totally new. You could even keep it if you want."

"No, dude, don't worry," Ryuji insisted. "You should keep that around in case you need it for yourself. I'll just get going. See you later!"

* * *

"There… there's no way. But then again… it just seems all too convenient for it…"

Students were talking about the Phantom Thieves during lunch period. Ryuji was pretty psyched, again, but Akira had been hearing stuff like this all day. He was kind of bored with it, and really a lot more interested in his text messages and whether or not his worries were unfounded. At least until Ann walked over and greeted them. "Have you found our next big target?"

"I just started looking yesterday!" Ryuji sounded rather incredulous at being pressured to find a target. "No way I'm gonna find one that quick."

Akira followed the conversation but said nothing. He was quite tired, and not in a talkative mood this morning. _Perhaps,_ he mused, _it would be best that we_ ** _don't_** _find a new target that quickly._ Ann said something else about a TV station. She seemed excited for some ungodly reason. What was so exciting about a TV station?

"Oh crap, the social studies trip! Uugh, I just wanna ditch it…" Ryuji was complaining, as usual. Akira himself wasn't too excited about the social studies trip either. That is to say, he wasn't actively opposed to it, and he certainly wasn't going to ignore it, but it didn't sound very exciting. His feeling on the matter was neutral.

Morgana emerged from Akira's desk, saying, "You better go to your school activities. Didn't I tell you not to draw attention to yourselves?"

He had a good point. There was no good reason to not skip out on the trip. Ryuji protested some more, but to no avail. "Then let's all choose the TV station!" Ann said happily, and ultimately Ryuji conceded that it was a good idea.

Akira wasn't sure about what would be particularly interesting at the TV station, but he figured it could be fun… somehow. Ah well, new experiences, right? Social studies trips at the school in his hometown had never been to very interesting places. The most exciting location they had ever been taken there was to the kitchen of a local ramen shop.

"That guy is such an idiot…" Morgana huffed. "I hope nothing bad happens."

* * *

"What are we doing today?" Ann inquired.

"Mementos!" Akira said. "There's a girl named Shimizu Hikari who's been bullying some other dude at Kosei High."

"Ah, yes, I've met her," Yusuke affirmed. "She's a rather insolent girl… I would very much like to see her have a change of heart."

"That sounds good to me!" said Ryuji. Ann and Morgana affirmed their positive feelings on the matter, declaring the decision unanimous.

"All right - Let's get going!" said Akira - and with that, they went to the subway platform and activated the Metanav, and Akira drove Morgana off into the endless underground labyrinth. And then… nothing happened. They drove on and on and on.

"Isn't this form of mine the coolest?" Mona wondered aloud. "Hmm…" Panther mused. "It's more cute than cool."

"I am fascinated by the notion of a cat transforming into a car," Fox opined. "I wonder what the rest of us would look like as automobiles."

"Oooh! I bet I'd be one of those funky 'hybrid' eco-friendly cars!" Skull chimed in.

Joker cracked up. "I don't really think so. You'd probably be more like a ginormous, extremely loud monster truck. Fox would probably be the hybrid - or perhaps a pickup truck. Panther would probably be some kind of fancy carriage."

"That sounds… very interesting," said Panther. "Joker, what kind of vehicle do you think you'd make?"

"I don't know…" he thought it over for a minute. "Maybe a minivan. Minivans are kind of jacks-of-all-trades."

"Couldn't we just transform ourselves into vehicles and find out?" wondered Fox. "After all, if Mona can do it, what exactly is there to stop us from doing so as well?"

"It's not that simple," explained Mona. "You need to have a lot of proficiency in consciously manipulating cognition, and it needs to be something that the Palace ruler is cognitive of. It's a little bit harder in Palaces, if the individual Palace ruler is subconsciously skeptical of the idea that cats can turn into buses."

"Oh yeah, you explained that to us when you first did it." Skull acknowledged, nodding. "I… kinda get it."

"Guys," said Joker, "hate to interrupt, but that Shadow…"

"It looks pretty big…" Panther murmured nervously.

"No way around it. We're going to have to fight! Let's go!" Mona said, and with that, Joker hit the gas pedal and rammed into the shapeless mass of Shadow in front of them.

* * *

The Shadow didn't put up much of a fight, and the Phantom Thieves quickly eliminated it.

"That was… fast." Skull was equal parts surprised and amused. "What were you saying about it being big, Panther?"

"What? Oh, that was nothing!"

"That was easier than cleaning my brushes," added Fox. "I feel like we've fought an enemy like that before. Joker, are you sure we're in the right area of Mementos?"

"Um… pretty sure." Joker checked the Nav. "Wait a second… actually, no. We're totally mixed up! Shimuzu's Shadow is in Aiyatsbus, not Chemdah… she's above us! How on Earth did we end up here…"

"It must be because we started deeper in the real world subway," posited Morgana. "If we had started at the entrance in Shibuya Square, this would have been a bit easier."

"Geez!" complained Skull. "Mementos is so goddamn confusing!"

Joker turned Mona around and headed up the escalator in the other direction.

The Phantom Thieves made quick work of Shimuzu, and Joker obtained her Treasure - a Whip Sword. He decided it would probably be best off sold to Iwai - they had no need for it. "Well, that's that!" said Skull. "Shall we head back then?"

Joker nodded. "We've had enough for today. Let's get out of here."

Shortly afterward, they returned to the entrance, and took a short break before returning to the real world. "What do you think the TV station will be like?" wondered Panther.

"A TV station?" Fox asked.

"Oh, yeah… well, you won't be there. We're going to a TV station for our school's social studies trip." explained Joker.

"It sounds intriguing… I don't have much familiarity with the process of media production. I would certainly like to visit such a place if ever I have the time… Perhaps I could meet with all of you there?"

"That'd be pretty cool!" said Skull. "It'd certainly be more interesting if you came along." Joker nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I wonder what you would think of it. You should come!"

"He can't!" said Mona. "It's on a school day. And even if he could get time off of school or something, the teachers would wonder what some strange person from another school is doing there."

"Oh well," said Fox, "It would potentially have been quite enlightening, if I could have come. I suppose there may be another opportunity."

* * *

 ** _6/9/2016_**

 ** _Akira finds the TV station menial and boring, and wishes that Yusuke could have come._**

 ** _A charismatic young boy with a clean brown suit, black gloves, and a suitcase with an "A" emblem intrudes upon one of their conversations._**

 **Akechi:** Oh, am I mistaken? I thought I heard something about delicious pancakes.

 _ **Akechi laughs nonchalantly.**_

 **Akechi:** No matter. Well, see you tomorrow.

 **A FEW MOMENTS EARLIER…**

 ** _Akira, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana discuss their plans for after the first day of the trip is over._**

 **Morgana:** Oooh, I know a place! I wanna go to that huge pancake-looking place we passed on the way here!

 **AN INDETERMINABLE NUMBER OF DAYS TO THE FUTURE…**

 _ **Niijima Sae is flabbergasted by Kususu Akira's latest statement.**_

 **Niijima Sae:** What was so important about pancakes?

 **Kurusu Akira:** …

 **AN INDETERMINABLE NUMBER OF DAYS FROM THE FUTURE…**

 **Akechi Goro:** They are taking the law into their own hands by judging him. This is far from justice. And moreover, you should never forcefully change a person's heart.

 _ **Moments pass, and words float through the room.**_

 **Announcer:** Let's try asking this young student here! Hypothetically speaking… what are your thoughts on these "Phantom Thieves," assuming they are indeed real?

 _ **Akira seeks a conclusion…**_

* * *

Akira was seeking a conclusion regarding how to answer the question now posed to him. How was he to respond without seeming suspicious? If he allowed his innate bias to leak into his response, Akechi Goro - this supposed genius detective - might immediately see through him. He might see through them all…

"Well… they do more than the cops." Akira said with an illegitimate smile laced across his face. "You couldn't suppose that the police would ever have tracked down this Madarame fellow, now could you? I imagine you could have, though, given how brilliant you are. They should have assigned you to investigate him."

The audience laughed. Akechi Goro was very clearly not fazed by this response. "Hahaha, perhaps they should have," he said, appearing delighted for some reason.

"This is in total opposition of your view that they ought to be tried by law, Akechi-kun." said the tv show host.

"Indeed," Akechi acknowledged, winking charismatically. "It is rather intriguing to hear a student present such a strong argument. In that case, there's one more question I'd like to ask…"

"By all means, please do," said Akira pleasantly. He didn't like Akechi all that much, and he sensed that Akechi didn't really like him either. The feeling was mutual, but thus, so was their attitude to the other. As he felt Akechi was quite possibly doing the same, Akira made an effort to maintain a confident, respectful appearance during the discussion.

"If someone close to you, for example…" Akechi turned his attention to Ryuji. "Your friend sitting next to you - if his heart suddenly changed, wouldn't you think it was the work of the Phantom Thieves?"

 _How would I know his heart changed?_ Akira thought. _I mean, obviously, we would never change our own hearts, and we couldn't possibly anyway even if we wanted… but…_

"That would never happen!" Akira laughed jovially at Akechi. "The Phantom Thieves only target criminals. My friend here's a great guy. He's done nothing to hurt anyone." Akira put his arm over Ryuji and patted him on the shoulder.

"How could you be so sure of that?" said Akechi. "Madarame seemed like a truly passionate and inspired artist to many. They had no knowledge of who he really was. Perhaps your friend has a hidden side as well. Perhaps you do too…"

"What if you had such a hidden side, and the Phantom Thieves changed _your_ heart?"

There was an _oooooh_ of surprise from the audience. Akechi seemed taken aback for a split second, but he regained his composure swiftly, and no one seemed to notice. "I wonder what would happen then," he said. "I suppose if I were to one day burst into this TV station, bawling my eyes out over how wrong I had been about the Phantom Thieves, you would all know, wouldn't you?"

Everyone laughed once again, and Akechi turned his attention back to the host. The announcer returned to her seat. "Regardless of whether or not their actions are justified, I believe there is a more important matter to consider."

"And what might that be?" questioned the show host.

"Exactly _how_ do they change people's hearts? If they honestly possess that ability, it could be used for more than extracting confessions…"

* * *

 _Was Akechi right?_

Maybe he was… Ann had wondered about that. Ryuji had reacted firmly in the negative. But as Morgana said, it didn't really matter to them. Akechi was naught but some spoiled teenager on TV. What he thought of them, and their justice, hardly mattered.

Akechi had approached Akira afterwards, and said something to him that might be interpreted as extending a hand of friendship… _I feel like our discussions could prove quite fruitful. Would you mind talking with me again?_ Akira didn't like Akechi much, but he sensed that he meant well, somehow. The young detective was perhaps not an enemy at heart, but at the same time, there was something about him that make Akira uneasy.

Perhaps he was only imagining things. But he wasn't really sure. There was something suspicious that Akechi had said. Something he was forgetting…

It was probably nothing to worry about. Akira decided to just go to sleep.

* * *

"Hello, Akira. I could tell, you know…"

"Tell what?"

Akechi Goro smiled, and took a seat next to Akira's usual chair. "You are somehow involved with the Phantom Thieves?"

Akira's eyes widened in surprised. "How do you know that? Do you have any proof?"

"Oh no, not at all. But I will find proof… I am an ace detective after all. Soon enough I will have to arrest you… but how about we talk in the meantime? I quite enjoy your company."

Akira picked up his coffee with his gloved hand. Akechi smiled, and began drinking his own. Akira looked around - where had the coffee come from? He didn't see Sojiro anywhere… was this a dream?

It was 20XX. Well, at least he still remembered how to exercise control over his dreams…

"This is a dream, you know," he told Akechi.

Akechi nodded. "Oh, I know. I'm dreaming too. Hahaha!" He smiled, in his usual, pleasant princely manner. "It is impressive, how quickly you learned to control your state of mind during sleep… from an old library book. And in so short a time, too! It took me many years before I rose to this level."

Akechi took another sip of coffee. "I know this isn't real coffee, but it is quite delicious… I must come by this place in reality sometime. By the way, that is an interesting costume…"

What?

Akira's hands were gloved, and… he felt his face.

He was in his Joker outfit. But then, why could he not move? Perhaps because… he was afraid of this?

"That's the attire you wear when acting as a Phantom Thief, correct?"

Akira was shocked by this. "How… how… do you -"

"You may have been the quicker learner," said Akechi, "however, I have had a great deal more practice. It is several times more difficult to control the dreams of others, but it can be done. If used correctly, it can be used to draw deep secrets from one's mind, and reveal hidden truths from your target…"

"Is this truly unrelated to the Metaverse?"

"Oh, so that's how you do it… ah, it all makes sense now. No, it is not. They're just dreams," Akechi chuckled. "It simply takes a strong will in reality to believe that dreams can be freely controlled, and a stronger will to find yourself in the dreams of others. It's not dissimilar to how the cognitive world works - but no, it's completely separate."

Akira's head was spinning. "Okay… Are you going to report me?"

"Oh, heavens, no! I have no good reason to incriminate you, Akira. Not yet. Besides, who would believe me if I said I saw it in a dream? No, you have no need to worry at the time." Akechi smiled knowingly. "I know time scares you… the endless motions of the calendar… the ticking of the clock... the dark void in which your life will end. It is natural to avoid your fears - but you really ought to face it head on, and choose to not let it rule your mind - just as you did with those police officials."

"You know about that too?!" Akira was flabbergasted. How long exactly had Akechi been monitoring his psyche?

"Just accept it - this year is 20XX, and the next will be 20XX. Life will move forward… and, mark my words…" Akechi's face turned grimly serious. "You will be brought to justice, and face serious consequences for your actions. But… just not yet!" He reverted to his usual positive temperament. "Do keep that in mind."

With that, Akechi gulped down the rest of his now cold coffee. Abandoning the empty cup, he exited Leblanc, and swiftly vanished into thin air - leaving Akira alone within his mind.

Akira looked around, feeling slightly more at ease. He sensed that for the remainder of this sleep, this dream would be empty… he had nothing more to fear…

Still in his Phantom outfit, he got up off of his chair and wondered about what had just happened. Was Akechi's presence in his dream genuine? Had the detective truly breached his inner mind? Did he really know about the Metaverse? And - he had said the year. But Akira's cognition had apparently censored the introduction of this undesirable information. Akechi had said 20 - Sic - X. Aggggghhh… !

This didn't make any sense. Akira was tired, and he wanted to just forget about it and take a nap… but he was already asleep. This was a different kind of nightmare, but it still did to him the same thing - it defeated the purpose of his rest. Why was it, that as soon as he felt he had solved his problems, new ones emerged?

* * *

Akira awakened, feeling a lot more relaxed than he had been while asleep, ironically enough. Was that dream real, or just his imagination? If it was, they were all potentially in serious trouble. He wondered what he should tell his friends…

But he decided not to worry them. He didn't know, and besides, Akechi had affirmed that he had no proof of Akira's guilt, and that there was time. Time, huh?

He had a point about learning to overcome his fear of time. Akira would need to use time, to help himself, to help everyone else… His mind wandered further away from what was most important, and Akira fell asleep once again. That night, he had no more dreams.

* * *

 ** _Original endnote (published 5/21/2017 on Ao3):_** I'm really proud of that dream scene with Akechi! I'm basically headcanoning that Akira was totally suspicious of him the whole time, from the moment he met him. I've seen quite a few people saying they noticed the pancake thing right away, so it would make sense. As such, I'm not really hiding him or anything - this story is written with people who've already played the game in mind anyway.

Akechi's arc is obviously important here, since it was such a big part of Persona 5, but I'm trying my best to not have Akira react to it any differently from anything else that's going on. It's not just the drugs making him forget Akechi's suspicion, since, well, he's paranoid about everything. But if you're wondering about that, this isn't exactly totally in media res in the same way Persona 5 is. Akira's not recalling everything from the interrogation - I'm just choosing to shift POVs between Akira as he was in the past and as he was in the present. And occasionally to third-person omniscient. I like playing around with writing perspective! I don't know if I'll include any other POVs, but I will if I see a good opportunity for it to benefit the story.

One thing I've been struggling with a bit is not writing a blow-by-blow recount of scenes that already happen in the actual game. Those scenes are pretty important, because I want to include Akira's personal thoughts that he has while those are all happening. But sometimes I get a bit carried away maintaining continuity and then it gets really boring. What I've been doing to remedy this is to recount it in a unique style, like I did with the TV station trip, and/or have Akira zone out a bit so that he lets his mind wander while stuff you already know about if you played the game is going on. Also generally trying to keep those brief and straight to the point. Anyway! - pretty excited to continue the story. As always, I do hope that this was fun.

 _ **New Endnote (6/6/2017):**_ Originally when Akechi said the year I used striked out 16 and 17 to signal the effect, however that apparently doesn't work here so I've edited this version so he simply says 20XX.


	5. 7-8-20XX

"If someone else could help 'em, WE WOULDN'T BE DOIN' STUFF AS THE PHANTOM THIEVES TO START WITH!" Ryuji shouted.

"Gahh! Shut up!" Akira hissed. They were out in the Shujin courtyard. It was 6/11/2016, and the last thing he wanted was to attract attention after the social studies trip. He had been forced to walk a fine line between being honest and true, and diverting suspicion from himself, and after meeting Akechi in his dream was more paranoid than he had ever been in his life. Ryuji's shouting was NOT helping his nerves.

He looked around, but saw no one in the immediate vicinity. No one seemed to have heard Ryuji - except Ann, who walked over and punched him. "Ow!" Ryuji protested, but the punch had no real force behind it, and he wasn't really hurt. "You're being way too loud!" Ann said.

"Who cares? Everyone's talkin' about this stuff anyway. It'd be more suspicious if we were whispering."

"Dude," Akira was baffled by this recklessness. "You have it backwards." Ryuji ignored him. Ann was eating some sort of snack - Akira wasn't really paying attention to what it was. "Are you gonna keep eating and eating those things all by yourself? Come on, gimme some!"

Ann quickly shoved one of them into her mouth, then put down the container. "Sorry! Just ate the last one." Ryuji groaned.

"You guys are too laid back," Morgana said, poking his head up out of Akira's bag. "The police are getting involved now, you know." Akira voiced his assent - "My thoughts exactly. Perhaps we ought to move this conversation elsewhere."

"Where else are we supposed to go, man?" Ryuji countered. "Not like anywhere else is a better place to hide."

"We'll be okay if we keep this up, right?" Ann said, sounding rather worried. Akira sighed. "I seriously don't know."

"Come on, guys!" said Ryuji. "We can't let the cops scare us outta bein' Phantom Thieves!"

"But what about that black mask guy Madarame's Shadow mentioned? Isn't there a lot we don't know?"

 _CLICK!_

The unmistakable light of a camera flash enveloped the three motley teenagers. Everyone turned their heads in surprise at the photographer - the ever-persistent Niijima Makoto. "The hell?!" Ryuji yelped.

"The three of you seem to be having so much fun… to be frank, I'm a little jealous." The student council president smiled at them all, acting much pleased with herself for some reason.

* * *

Makoto left them rather quickly after being called out by Ann. Clearly, the latter had hit a nerve, and the former's face had fallen. "Just make sure you show up to your classes, all right?" she had said, dejectedly. She seemed quite sad, and Akira actually felt a bit sorry for her. But there was nothing he could do, so he let it go.

Soon after, Akira and the Phantom Thieves gathered at Leblanc, and Sojiro agreed to let Yusuke stay the night. He took his suitcase and other luggage upstairs, and sat on the couch. "I can sleep here," Yusuke said. "Thank you very much for all your help."

"No problem," Akira replied. "Thank you for helping with Madarame. I'm really happy to have you on this team, and as a friend." Yusuke smiled. "I appreciate that." As Akira sat down on his bed, Yusuke asked, "Akira - is there anything I ought to know before we slumber?"

"Well…" Akira wondered if it was important, then decided it was probably best that he at least let him know. "I sometimes have crazy dreams. I wake up in the middle of the night, but I usually just go straight back to sleep. Do you think that would bother you?"

"Oh, no," said Yusuke, "I generally tend to sleep very soundly. I am not easily roused, so I should be perfectly fine. But, just out of curiosity - what are these dreams about?"

"Well…" Akira decided it would be best not to mention that Yusuke had appeared in one of them. "They usually involve the authorities finding out some way or another that I'm guilty of something, or that I'm a Phantom Thief. They come to arrest me and then I wake up. Sometimes variations happen, like other people showing up with them, or them having different reasons for showing up."

"My," said Yusuke, "that sounds rather upsetting."

"Yeah… but it's alright. I'm working out how to deal with it." Akira showed Yusuke the lucid dreaming guide, which he had not yet returned to the library. He wasn't planning on doing so anytime soon - he had a feeling no one would miss it. "I read this book, and I've been practicing its techniques to control my state of mind so that I can manipulate my dreams and make it less stressful."

Yusuke opened the book. "Hmm, it possesses a peculiar odor… Perhaps I should hold my nose."

He turned to the opening pages and read out loud: "'An introduction… The art of lucid dreaming, for many eons an enigma among men, a gift from the gods…" He frowned skeptically. "I'm not sure the history presented is entirely correct, but…" He flipped ahead a few pages and observed some text in a later chapter. "'To take control of one's dreams, one must first set their mind at ease with this series of Heavenly meditation exercises…'"

Yusuke continued reading for a few moments. "My, imagine the possibilities, if I could control the flow of my dreams… the beauties I could uncover from within my own unconscious…" He was absolutely enthralled by the text. "Akira, this is a fascinating piece of literature. May I borrow this?"

"Uh, sure!" said Akira. "Well, it's not technically mine - it's from the Shujin library -"

"I'm sure it will be fine," affirmed Yusuke, "I am very good at taking care of books. When is it due?"

"Uh, you can return it whenever." Akira said. "It wasn't exactly popular. I don't think the staff even remember it being checked out."

"I see," said Yusuke. "Thank you very much… I will return it as soon as I have finished perusing it."

"Sounds good." Akira said. "I'm kind of tired, so, we should probably go to bed now… Sleep well!"

Akira was not going to sleep well himself, however.

* * *

"Coffee good for you?"

 _20XX…_

 _Where am I?_

 _My head hurts…_

The two officers entered, same as usual. "Kurusu Akira - that is your name, yes?"

"I couldn't tell you for sure." Akira replied, taking a sip of his coffee and not looking at them. "What does this 'Kurusu Akira' look like?"

The TV turned on, and Akira's face appeared on the screen. "Well," said the pretentious suited asshole, "if I had to guess, I'd say he looks a lot like that…" Akira dropped his cup of coffee, and it shattered upon the floor - along with his prior confidence that, tonight, he would have his way in this dream…

Ryuji's voice erupted out of the speakers, about as loud as an elephant trumpeting. "HEYYY everybody, thanks for coming out tonight!" he shouted, as Akira's photo was relegated to the upper right corner to make way for Ryuji's face. Ryuji was surrounded by a host of attractive women on a spectacularly lit stage. He was wearing his Skull outfit, and carried an electric guitar, which was attached to a strap slung over his shoulder.

"My name is Sakamoto Ryuji aka Skull, and we're going to rock the world! But first, I'd like to thank my best friend KURUSU AKIRA! It's thanks to him leading the PHANTOM THIEVES that I got this far!" An offscreen crowd could be heard cheering their hearts out. "Now - LET'S JAM!"

Ryuji began strumming randomly and singing some meaningless, poorly written English lyrics. Akira strongly suspected that Ryuji did not know how to sing or play guitar in the slightest, and his English was absolutely atrocious. As such, he was baffled when the crowd went wild and cheered him on - did his audience have no taste for good music? But more importantly, how the hell had he gotten on TV to play a concert and announce his and Akira's identity to the entire population of Tokyo?

"I think you understand," said the suited man. The policeman restrained Akira and pushed his face down against the bar while he was handcuffed. As he was arrested, once again, the tv channel changed - despite the fact that Akira did not see anyone with the remote to do so.

Niijima Makoto was now on the screen, again wearing her school uniform against a perfectly white background. Her eyes bore straight into his soul, and her voice - emotionless, with no trace of sympathy to be found - echoed not just throughout the room, but seemingly through his mind.

"I'm quite surprised and amused that the member of a dangerous criminal group was vain and loud enough to sell themselves and their friends out to the entire population of Japan… simply because they desired the attention. You have very foolish friends, Kurusu-kun."

* * *

Akira was not worried in the slightest about being discovered, he told himself. If anything, he was worried about Makoto. Not finding them out, but about her personally. She hadn't been following him for a week now, and most times when he had seen her she averted eye contact and hid behind her textbooks, or in the student council room. But then again, she wasn't really talking to anyone.

A notice had been put up recently calling for information to be delivered to the student council president. Akira didn't know who had put it up, or why.

Just earlier this week, he had visited the library - but finding it too noisy, opted to read a book in the third floor hallway instead. Thinking back to that afternoon, he recalled a couple of students visiting the council room. Makoto had emerged a few moments later and gone downstairs, apparently to see someone. She was doing her best to hide it, but it was not difficult to see that she was at her wits' end.

If she was still investigating the Phantom Thieves, she must have found herself on a wild goose chase. Akira was sorry that she had to endure this nonsense, but at the same time he was elated that he and his friends had proved themselves to be difficult to trace. Yet, a simple schoolgirl was not much of a test. The police on the other hand…

Wait.

Niijima Makoto might not have any legitimate proof, but she still had a lead… that was something the police did not have. Hmm, it was true - what the authorities lacked in information, the president well made up for with her convenient proximity to the location of the case. And knowledge of such location to start with…

He could not let his guard down yet. She was certainly not to be dismissed. Nonetheless… _Everything is fine. Your dream was a dream. Everything is just fine, Akira._ He took a deep breath.

Class was over. Akira hadn't been paying attention, but for some reason, he was confident that he would be just fine. Everything would be okay. Everything would be okay… okay… he stood up to leave, but heard Kawakami's voice. "Oh good, you haven't gone home yet." He turned to see what she wanted.

"Niijima-san -"

With that, Akira's hair stood on end.

* * *

Akira entered the student council room, trying to contain his fears. Had he been found out? "Niijima-senpai, is there a problem?"

Makoto's face was stone cold, but pleasantly neutral. She acted hospitably, but clearly, this was a serious meeting. "Please, have a seat." He did so. "Now… I'll get straight to the point."

"She doesn't sound too friendly," whispered Morgana from inside his bag.

"Mr. Kamoshida. Madarame. Won't you tell me the truth… about the Phantom Thieves?"

"Excuse me?"

"Of course… there's no way you would admit to such things." Makoto retrieved her smartphone. "Now, please, don't think you can escape this by making out with me again…" she tapped the screen. "Have a listen."

"If someone else could help 'em, WE WOULDN'T BE DOIN' STUFF AS THE PHANTOM THIEVES TO START WITH!"

Akira nearly jumped out of his chair. Damnit Ryuji…!

His nightmare had come true.

Makoto stopped the recording. "Now… I wonder, what could this mean? What would the school think of this? Or the police… How do you do this? Blackmail? Hypnosis? Please, enlighten me."

The recording… could it be talked around in an interrogation? Could he say they were role playing or something like that? Or that Ryuji had been practicing his voice? Perhaps… He overcame his shock long enough to formulate a response.

* * *

 **IMMEDIATELY…**

 _ **Akira sits up straight.**_

 _ **Akira: I'm not sure, myself… I'm curious about these guys too. I hear they're kind of OP, y'know? Like, crazy. Those calling cards, though - those are a bit much. Not sure I'm into that…**_

 _ **Makoto is not convinced.**_

 _ **Makoto: Oh, so this doesn't prove anything, huh? You think the authorities will buy whatever excuse you have cooked up?**_

 _ **Makoto: Please don't misunderstand… I have an open mind. This could be much worse for you… in fact, I'd call this a golden opportunity. If you cooperate with me, I don't mind sharing secrets…**_

 _ **Akira: I have a right to be silent.**_

 _ **Makoto sighs in disappointment.**_

 _ **Makoto: Please. You realize that's the same as admitting to it? If you have no intention of confessing to me…**_

 _ **Akira's face falls.**_

 _ **Akira: Please don't, I beg you… I'll -**_

 _ **Akira's phone rings.**_

* * *

The caller ID showed Ryuji's picture. Crap.

Makoto nodded. "Go on. Answer it."

Akira accepted the call with his thumb, while simultaneously accessing the down button on the volume controls with his ring finger so as to temper Ryuji's natural volume.

It was no use. Ryuji's voice was clearly audible throughout the whole room, and Akira wouldn't have been surprised if it were faintly audible in the hallway. "Hey, where you at? Takin' a leak? Let's meet up at the usual spot to hold our Phantom Thieves meetin'!"

 _NO!_ Akira pulled the phone away from his ear.

"... THAT IDIOT!" Morgana was just about as freaked as he was, evidently.

"My, your friend AND your cat both seem rather loud today," Makoto remarked. She smiled softly, extremely happy with the outcome. Akira had lost this battle of wits - Makoto undeniably had the upper hand in this exchange. Not like he had ever had a chance. He resigned to defeat. "What do you want me to do?"

"Won't you take me to your friends?"

* * *

It was 6/16/2016. The second Akira got off the phone with Makoto, he went upstairs and simply collapsed upon his bed. The utter stress at seeing something out of his dreams manifest in reality earlier this week had been too much for him. And now he was investigating a mob boss, of all people… This was unbelievable. This entire week took the cake for the most surprising in recent history.

Was Makoto an enemy? … or a friend? He had been wondering this for quite awhile but now he was more uncertain than ever. Her conditions that they prove their justice seemed genuine, but what if she was setting them up? What if all she wanted to do was turn around and backstab them? But he wasn't sure. She had called this a "golden opportunity…"

But were they really lucky to have her offer the chance to redeem themselves to her? He couldn't be sure. For the time being, he didn't really want to think about it.

* * *

The evening of 6/20 was a memorable one. Akira's anxieties had been, by and large, dispelled from memory. Makoto was now unquestionably their ally. She also had an awesome Persona. A bike… Akira wasn't really into motorcycles, personally, but he thought it was awesome. Very awesome.

Ryuji clearly agreed, as Akira saw when his phone beeped.

 **Ryuji:** Damn, motorcycles are cool…  
 **Ryuji:** I wish my Persona was like that.  
 **Yusuke:** Yours is on a ship though.  
 **Ryuji:** Dude, are you kidding?! Motorcycles are way cooler than dumb boats!

The messages continued as Makoto entered the conversation, changed the subject and apologized for her rash actions. Akira wasn't sure that was right, though... she had enabled their entrance into the Palace, after all.

 **Akira:** Please, don't worry about it. We wouldn't have gotten to Kaneshiro any other way. I agree that you acted rashly, but this was all for the best.

For a moment, nothing happened.

 _Makoto is typing…_  
 _Ann is typing…_  
 _Yusuke is typing…_  
 _Ryuji is typing…_

Ultimately, no one said anything. Akira wondered if he had said the right thing… perhaps he had been insensitive.

But then, his phone buzzed four times in quick succession. They had all replied simultaneously.

 **Makoto:** That may have been the case, but I ought to at least have explained myself...  
 **Ann:** Akira, I'm sure there may have been another way to do this without placing ourselves in this situation. We could have reasoned with Makoto.  
 **Yusuke:** It is indeed regrettable. Perhaps you are correct, Akira, but I am sure we all could have come up with a better solution if we'd took a few minutes to think and all worked together.  
 **Ryuji:** Dude, we ended up owing THREE MILLION YEN to a crook! "All for the best?" Are you serious?!

There were a couple minutes of radio silence. Presumably, everyone was reading each other's messages.

 _Makoto is typing..._

 **Makoto:** Thank you anyways, Akira... and to all the rest of you as well, for coming to my rescue. I'll see you all tomorrow.

And that was that. Akira still had something else he wanted to say, though… so he sent an individual text to Makoto.

 **Akira:** I want to apologize to you personally.  
 **Akira:** I didn't trust you…  
 **Makoto:** Of course not… I was following and interrogating you and all that stuff, after all. There's no need to apologize.  
 **Akira:** It's just, the night before you confronted me, I had this crazy dream…  
 **Makoto:** What?  
 **Akira:** It was basically about you finding out… ah, never mind.  
 **Makoto:** I see. I didn't expect you to take it well, but you did look much more rattled than I anticipated. It makes sense…  
 **Akira:** Also, you were on TV, and Ryuji was doing this concert thing.  
 **Makoto:** I don't need to know. Nor do I really want to. I would prefer that people of the opposite sex keep any dreams about me to themselves.  
 **Akira:** Uhh… it's not like that.  
 **Makoto:** I don't think it is, I'm just not interested.  
 **Akira:** Okay… when you say "not interested…"  
 **Makoto:** I don't really have dreams. I mean, I have them in the broader sense, but I don't really have sleeping dreams.

Akira wondered what to say to this. He typed a few iterations of a reply, but kept deleting them again and again. He wasn't quite sure how to make this sound not weird.

 **Makoto:** See you tomorrow, Akira. Good night.  
 **Akira:** … Good night.

* * *

The days passed him by, and the clock ticked away. Akira saw his weeks fly by, flashes of memory floating above the surface in a sea of disregarded time…

Time…

 _"We must go to the Palace today. We don't have the luxury of time anymore."_

 _"I'm sure the change of heart worked… we're forgetting something…"_

 _"We ran out of time! We haven't stolen Kaneshiro's heart yet!"_

 _"Dude, what the hell?"_

And then he was in Leblanc. His phone lit up with a notification:

 _One (1) Unread Voicemail Message_

Akira's hands and heart shaking and beating a bazillion miles a minute, he pressed the play button, and heard Makoto's voice…

"Akira! Akira, Kaneshiro -" There were other, menacing voices in the background, swearing abrasively. It sounded like a struggle was occurring. A clattering noise was heard - Makoto had apparently dropped her phone. "AKIRA! HELP ME!" The voice was shrill, desperate and ghostly. Akira dropped his phone in shock.

What had he done… ?

"Hey…"

Sojiro had apparently materialized out of nowhere while he wasn't looking. He was nonchalantly brewing coffee, unaware of Akira's anguish. "Coffee good for you?"

 _ding_

Akira was fated to meet his doom now. There was nowhere else to go. He could not move… he was trapped… he fought to recall his rebellious will, his Joker outfit… before the men… before they…

"Kurusu Akira. That is your name, yes?"

"N - no - o"

or so he thought, but his voice did not come out. He had no strength to fight back. He may have learned the art of lucid dreaming, but he had certainly not mastered it.

"Yes…" he said meekly.

"A high school girl was taken into custody at an establishment for illegal services yesterday. Through her drug-induced stupor, she managed to identify one name clearly - yours."

"Illegal services?" What the shit? …

 _My head hurts…_

 _No no no no NO! I WILL NOT -_

 _I can't… it's 20XX after all…_

"We'd like to speak in more detail about the ramifications of this."

Sojiro was stunned. "What the hell did you do?!"

"You're coming with us…"

 _MAKOTO! And what about… everyone else… **NO!**_

* * *

 **ELSEWHERE IN THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY:**

 _ **Niijima Sae is stunned.**_

 _ **Sae: What - Makoto?! That's impossible! That could not have -**_

 _ **Sae takes a moment to recover.**_

 _ **Sae: YOU'RE LYING TO ME!**_

 _ **Akira: I'm sorry, I'm sorry - I - I can't remember! I don't - I'm sure it was - it was -**_

 _ **Sae: NO! Is THAT the entirety of your testimony? Are you serious?**_

 _ **Akira is too far gone, and her words do not seem to register.**_

 _ **Sae: Please! Kurusu! Please tell me the truth!**_

 _ **He does not respond.**_

 _ **Sae: Do you have no intention of saying anything more? Or is the overdose…**_

 _ **Sae's face adopts a defeated expression.**_

 _ **Sae: It seems it'd be a waste of time to speak to you any further… It's unfortunate.**_

 _ **Sae stands up and EXITS the interrogation room.**_

 _ **…**_

 _ **…**_

 _ **…**_

 _ **A mysterious figure enters…**_

 _ **The effects of the drugs cloud Akira's vision, and he cannot determine their identity…  
** **He feels the barrel of a pistol pressed against his forehead…**_

 _ **Mysterious Man: Allow me to enlighten you…**_

 _ **Akira remembers too late**_

 _ **!**_

* * *

Akira awakened, breathing hard and fast. That had been the most terrifying dream of them all… Makoto… !

The calling card had been delivered, right? Makoto and Ryuji had posted it up all around Shibuya. They were stealing the treasure -

 **7/2/2016 4:44 AM**

Today!

Had they done it? Had they truly done it? He pulled out his phone and messaged the Phantom Thieves chat.

 **Akira:** We sent the calling card, right?

But no one was awake to respond.

He went back to sleep… feeling even more restless than usual. It wasn't until later, at breakfast, that he saw a response.

 **Ryuji:** Dude, what're you talking about? Of course we sent the calling card!  
 **Makoto:** Yes, yes. I'm certain he'll have seen it. My sister received a call about it as well this morning.  
 **Ann:** Don't worry! Everything's going to be fine!  
 **Yusuke:** Oh, good morning, everyone. Akira, is something wrong? Have you had another one of those dreams?  
 **Makoto:** Oh, those… You mentioned them…  
 **Akira:** Yep, it was fucking horrible. It was one of those times when you wake up, and you're not sure if you're still awake or not, you get what I mean?  
 **Ryuji:** Whoa! Yeah, I totally know what you mean. What happened? In your dream, I mean.  
 **Akira:** … You don't want to know. It was terrifying.  
 **Ann:** Really? … that makes me curious. Well, if you don't want to share it, that's okay of course. :)  
 **Yusuke:** Did your lucid dreaming not help?  
 **Akira:** Yeah, I need to get better at that, I think?  
 **Makoto:** Lucid dreaming?  
 **Akira:** It's when you're conscious of the fact that you're dreaming while it's happening.  
 **Akira:** If you're good enough, you can manipulate your dreams and make basically whatever you want happen. I've done a little bit of that, but I'm not quite an expert or anything. I read a book about how to do it.  
 **Yusuke:** Yes, Akira lent me that book. I must say, it has been very helpful. The dreams I've been having lately… last night, I dreamed that I was engaging in a body painting activity with a crowd of beautiful females.  
 **Ann:** What?  
 **Ryuji:** Dude, that sounds like a wild dream… what did you dream about before?  
 **Yusuke:** I'm not really sure, actually… before I borrowed this book from Akira, I had hardly any dreams, and barely remembered them. This has opened a whole new world to me.  
 **Makoto:** Now I kind of wish I had dreams… the concept actually sounds quite fascinating.  
 **Yusuke:** It truly is.  
 **Ann:** I have lots of dreams! One time I dreamed that I upstaged Mika and totally embarrassed her, another time that I was in a swimming pool for a photo shoot, and that I was a sexy film hero… well, that's kind of a dream of mine anyway.  
 **Ryuji:** My dreams are usually about dumb things like eating until I barf or running through the woods naked.  
 **Akira:** That sounds like fun.  
 **Ryuji:** Seriously?  
 **Akira:** No, not really.  
 **Yusuke:** How absurd…  
 **Yusuke:** In any case, thank you, Akira, for lending me this book. I've just about finished with it and will return it at the earliest opportunity. Good luck with controlling your dreams.  
 **Akira:** Thanks everyone. See you later!

Akira ate his breakfast and left. Today was one of those rare days when he felt just as confident in reality as he usually did when phantom thieving in the Metaverse.

* * *

As Yusuke had promised, he returned _How to Master the Art of Lucid Dreaming_ the very same day, almost immediately after they changed Kaneshiro's heart. It was now that Akira was rereading it, looking for passages he might have missed which could help him improve his skills.

 _How,_ he wondered, _does this book work its magic, anyway?_ It had turned him into a lucid dreamer - certainly not the best lucid dreamer, but easily an adequate one, after a few short weeks of reading. Yusuke had caught on to the method extremely quickly as well, and was now apparently having his own bizarre dreams and gaining inspiration for his newest artworks. Shouldn't this stuff take more practice? One person learning quickly was one thing. But two? This book was pretty great, if a little baffling in the way it was written, but it did seem somewhat suspicious. And why had it been in the Shujin library, of all places? Why would anyone working or studying at Shujin take any interest in this? Especially since there were probably better-written, more reputable books on the subject.

Akira supposed it didn't matter much... it had worked! It did the job. Why was he worried? … it was just a book. There was nothing to worry about.

He happened upon a chapter entitled "Demons, And The Strategies For Expelling Them." Upon the pages, he observed a seemingly relevant passage:

 _From time to time, the avid lucid dreamer may encounter **demons** in their dreams. These demons are one of two types, and do not always manifest as humanoid or even physical forms, but often as concepts or perceived implications of a particular event in a dreamer's life in the real world. The first type, the **shadows** , are products of the dreamer him/herself and emerge from his/her subconscious. One must expel them by essentially conquering the fears from whence they came (see page. 5). The second type are not one specific class, but various manner of **intruders.** They reportedly forcibly breach the inner world of a dreamer's mind from the psyche of others. These types, however, are only rumored to exist, and conjectures as to what - or who - they might be is only speculation. Theories range from the shadows of others whom the dreamer is close to, to the avatars of other lucid dreamers who may enter another's dreams with malicious intent._

 _If the second type exists, it is almost certainly extremely rare, and you, reader, will probably not need to concern yourself with the thought. However, if ever you encounter such an unwanted presence, there are three things to keep in mind:_

 _1) **The intruder possesses a will as strong as or stronger than you, and has access to unknown arts not taught by this text.** To violate the sanctity of another dreamer's paradise, a demon must be able to mentally overpower the dreamer's will for that paradise to exist. This can be helped along by an unconscious suppressed desire for the intruder to exist, if such a desire is present. Such violation is considered a critical sin by the authors of this book, and as such, would not be detailed here even if they had access to such knowledge._

 _2) **The intruder is not an ordinary human, if they are human at all.** It is extremely difficult to breach another's dream, and this cannot be easily done by most people - even the rarely gifted lucid dreamers. The only way it would be possible would be with extremely uncommon talent or powers acquired from a Devilish Source._

 _3) **The intruder cannot read your mind.** Dreams are only scenes crafted from the Dream Layer, the inner surface of the mind which consists of selective pieces of information and emotions which have emerged deep within your psyche. An intruder cannot access anything not present in the Dream Layer, i.e. details which the dreamer has not dreamed about as of yet. Since most of the time, dreams do not include minor, trivial or specific details (such as your shoe size, or precise identifying personal information like one's home address or bank statements) a dreamer is usually safe from such an intruder somehow apprehending them in the real world._

 _As such, please follow the method on page. 5 but with **much greater effort.**_

Much greater effort? This book was not well detailed. How had Akira not noticed the first time how nonsensical it was? It was certainly an interesting book - fascinating, as Yusuke had said, though this was just Yusuke's kind of thing anyway. Upon a second look, Akira found it to be rather vague and nonspecific, and it spoke of things that either did not really exist or were not properly explained, if they were explained at all. He had seen no reference to "Devilish Source" anywhere else in the book, and quite frankly, it sounded like total balderdash. Though it certainly didn't help that it lacked an index. Had this book really helped him that much? Perhaps all it had really done was give him the confidence necessary to lucid dream.

Akira decided that it probably wouldn't be much further help, and that he would return it to the library tomorrow.

* * *

Akira was in Leblanc again.

"Coffee good for you?"

The door opened, and Akira braced himself for the officials to enter. "Kurusu Akira. That is your name, yes?"

"Nahhh."

Akira stood up and his costume changed. Now Joker, he prepared to rebel against his fate once more - as he did, every night when some demon, as the book called it, did not decide to stop by. He scowled once again, and, ready to resist, he waited for them to move in on him -

But then there was a loud, distinctive snap! and with that, Sojiro, the policeman, and the pretentious asshole in a suit, all vanished. Two full cups of coffee materialized in a booth. "Greetings!" said a pleasant young boy's familiar voice. Akechi Goro, once again, had without invitation barged into Akira's dreams.

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (published on AO3 5/22/2017):**_ Mannn... this chapter was LONG. I am totally drained, and I think I'm just about totally done with this arc of it... I think I just tied together all the character threads all between chapters 1-5. Geez, I could use a nap. I spent wayyy too much time on this...

I've still got a long ways to go, I think. I've got this big plan in mind for how to cover October/November. It should be easy enough, I'll just have to write about everything Akira forgot, plus dreams, and make it sound cool and stuff. In the meantime though, I've got Futaba/Medjed to cover, and I'll be concocting at least two different "bad end" dreams, kinda like I did here. Though I'll probably spread them out across chapters. Also got some space to weave one or more of the Confidants into the whole dream story, if I decide to do that.

Anyhow, I hope this was fun, and didn't get too convoluted or crazy. Thanks for reading. Tune in next time to find out what Akechi's doing "violating sanctity" again!


	6. Dream Coffee Again

"Greetings!"

Akira blinked the sleep - sleep? wake? whatever it was - out of his eyes, and grimaced at Akechi. "You again?"

"Me again," Akechi replied. "I've been meaning to come visit outside of our dreams, but I've been so busy… not that that matters to you, of course."

Akira was once again wearing his Joker outfit. He also felt somehow more at ease than the last time Akechi had intruded…

"It seems you no longer fear the implications brought upon you by my presence here," Akechi commented. "Very well done! You're no longer confined to that chair. With that, I suppose you could move about the kitchen here, and make another cup of coffee."

Akira took a minute to process this information. "I'll pass on the coffee. But, what exactly do you mean?"

"Ah, yes," Akechi nodded with immediate understanding, "the text explains it very poorly. I have that book myself - while on the whole, it is correct and helpful regarding the ideas it conveys, many of the details it provides are either cryptic hyperbole, or deliberately misleading. It's rather frustrating at times…"

He took a sip of coffee. "Though it is understandable, considering the book's questionable origins."

"Questionable origins?" Akira shook his head in frustration. "I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this…"

"Well, I can't determine why, but the book is alive somehow. The only two copies of it in the world are some kind of… twins. But, although they share the same name and subject, certainly not identical ones." Akechi put some sugar in his coffee. "See, the book - well, two books - rewrite themselves from time to time. The content of each remains the same fundamentally, but small things are changed, and occasionally entire passages or even whole chapters are entirely replaced."

Akira was confused. "Uh… and how did these books come to… er…"

"As I said, I haven't the foggiest idea."

"Okay, uh - never mind the sentient books. What about my other question?"

"Ah, about your fear of my presence? Very well. You see…"

With the utmost pleasant patience, Akechi carefully explained. "You understand the basic concept, right? You were able to resist arrest when you no longer feared the officials. Before that, you were locked into a state of inaction in which you were railroaded into complying with the path of your dream by the will of your fears…"

"The will of my fears?"

"Well, it's an expression of sorts," Akechi clarified. "The point is, as soon as you dispel your fears from your dream, then assuming no new ones emerge, you are able to act freely and manipulate the dream to your liking."

"Does that mean I can make you leave?" Akira snapped.

Akechi laughed. "Ahahahaha!" He kept laughing for a minute until he coughed, and then regained control of himself. "Sorry, that was rather rude of me. I just found the way you asked that very funny." He took another sip of coffee. "Unfortunately, no."

"And why is that?" Akira was a little irritated by Akechi's fake-feeling attitude. He was too polite. It was one thing on TV, but to wear this obviously false face in conversation was something else entirely. He played the kind of character whom you would laugh at in a show, but in an actual conversation would ultimately grow to loathe.

Not taking any notice whatsoever of Akira's passive-aggressive response to his temperament, Akechi continued his explanation. "Two reasons. The first is rather complicated, so I'll simplify it somewhat for you. While you may be cognitive of your wish to push me out, I am cognitive of my wish to remain here. Because my wish emerged first, when I arrived here and before you observed my presence and developed your wish for me to be gone, my cognitive force here is somewhat stronger.

But that is somewhat mitigated by the fact that this is your dream I am intruding upon, and as such your will would normally hold truer than that of a foreign consciousness. This would ordinarily put our two wills at roughly equal odds in opposition, and with a little effort, you could evict me without too much difficulty. However…"

He smiled at Akira kindly. "You simply don't want to."

Akira was incredulous. "Excuse me?"

Akechi took another sip of coffee. "On the whole, you may consider me an adversary - but a suppressed part of you deep within your heart would like to think of me as some sort of a friend. That part of you enjoys, even desires, my company."

 _What?_ Akechi's words sounded like utter nonsense. Akira simply didn't believe it. "You and me - friends? You have got to be kidding me. You claim me as a dangerous criminal and want to put me in jail."

"Oh, Akira," Akechi said warmly, "You and I may be at odds, but we are not necessarily enemies. I am a detective, you are a thief. I have my business and you have yours - to gather evidence of your guilt, capture, and arrest you; to steal the hearts of unforgivable criminals and evade my capture, respectively. We are simply people with jobs."

 _Sippp._ His coffee cup was about two thirds of the way empty. "But, that does not mean we cannot be friendly with each other when we are not conducting our businesses." _Sippp._

"Let me ask you a question," Akechi continued. "Do you believe I am worthy of a 'change of heart?'"

Akira was unsure. He looked at his coffee cup, which was still full. He knew he could have stood up and gotten himself curry or something, but he had not wanted to. He did not want to give Akechi the impression that he was enjoying himself.

"Cat got your tongue, eh? Allow me to clarify the reasoning behind my question. Do you remember, when we met at the TV station, how you asked what I thought would happen if I had a hidden side and your team changed my heart?" Akechi told him.

"Yes, I remember."

"I'm glad you do. Now, at the time, I already had my suspicions that you were in truth, defending your own integrity. But this question surprised me, because I did not imagine myself to be a target worthy of your group… I'm simply a detective who appears on TV from time to time. I have done nothing illegal - I simply spoke my mind."

 _Sippp._ His coffee was almost gone. "Were you truly thinking of targeting me?"

Akira carefully considered this. Had the intent really been on his mind? He wasn't sure - he certainly hadn't been set on the idea, or suggested it to any of his friends. But perhaps the thought had crossed him, once or twice, or more… it certainly hadn't been a simple passing idea. He'd given voice to it, after all.

"Not seriously," he said. "The question was mostly me being clever. I figured you might end the discussion there, and then I could reduce the risk of being suspected by everyone else. Nonetheless, the idea did pass me by - but I figured it wouldn't be worth it. Doing so would be a waste of time, and only serve to boost our publicity and ego - which we hardly have any interest in. It would be in direct opposition to our values. Plus, it's not like you can do anything to us, anyway, as you have no evidence, and we have no intention of affording you the opportunity to find any."

"I see…" Akechi said.

"Plus, you've apparently been to the Metaverse, or at the very least know about it. You seem to have a basic understanding of this kind of stuff. Even if we did try to change your heart, you might have taken steps to prevent us from doing so, or make it difficult. Given the amount of knowledge you have, it's highly likely you might be a Persona-user like us, which would make it impossible anyhow."

Akechi smiled. "Akira! Why, you are quite the clever thinker." He took another sip, and his coffee was now empty. "You are correct. I am indeed a Persona-user. I've had my power for quite a while, and never had much reason to use it until now… but since I pieced together what you were doing, I have been scouting out various Palaces in the Metaverse, trying to chase you down, searching for evidence."

"Is that so?" Akira laughed. He was quite pleased, if this were indeed the case. He knew of course that Akechi was no ordinary ace detective - but hunting for him in the Metaverse? He was actually quite honored that someone was going to the trouble - but -

All of a sudden, Akira remembered what the book had said about the "Dream Layer."

"My Phantom Thief outfit -" he began, "you were just trying to intimidate me when you said you could uncover 'deep secrets,' right? The only reason why you can make this outfit manifest, is because I have dreamed about it."

"You have no knowledge of our future targets, or the Palaces we are infiltrating, and based on what I've researched, it would be impossible for you to unearth such details by simply invading my dreams. You can only know what has already been in my dreams, but not less significant details like names and locations, except for this place" - he gestured to indicate Leblanc in general - "since all my dreams take place here, it would be part of this picture - the small piece of the picture that you can see."

"You are correct, Akira. However, I have other ways of obtaining evidence," Akechi told him. "I could come here in reality, and search the attic in which you live. I'm certain that I would find some proof of your crimes here."

"For that, you would need a search warrant. For a search warrant, you would need evidence upon which to base a reasonable suspicion in the eyes of the law. For evidence, you would need to search this place, which would mean needing a warrant. And you're not going to find any such evidence elsewhere. Funny catch-22 you're in here, eh?"

Joker laughed derisively, then stood up from the booth and put on his usual mischievous scowl. "I invite you, Akechi - no, I _welcome_ you, with open arms - to continue your search. Catch me if you can! You'll never get me."

"Oh, indeed." Akechi emptied his coffee cup. Despite Akira's mocking of him, he upheld his facade. "I assure you… Joker. I will rise to that challenge." He stood up from his own chair, there was a flash of blue, and his clothes, too, changed. Akechi now wore a white outfit laced with bits of red, and a similarly reddish-colored, pointy, beak-like mask. He stared daggers at Joker. Joker, meanwhile, stared knives.

Akechi turned away, and his Metaverse outfit vanished. Now wearing his normal detective getup, he walked to the door, and opened it up. The bell rang as he did so. Before leaving, he took one last look back at Joker - no, Akira. His Phantom suit was gone once again. Akira wasn't sure why.

"Akira - our conflicting goals and ideals aside, I sincerely wish you good luck - my friend." Akechi stepped outside and, as the door shut, ever so slowly, he called out, "Let the chase begin… and may the best man win." The door shut behind Akechi, and he disappeared from Akira's mind once more.

Akira smiled, adjusting his disguise glasses, then raking his fingers through his crisp, black hair. "Indeed, Akechi. I too… wish you luck."

* * *

 _Far away, Akechi smiles to himself, his hand placed upon the silenced pistol concealed inside his jacket pocket. "Yes, good luck, indeed."_

 _And both the As say, with a confident, daring smile upon their face: **"You're going to need it."**_

* * *

Despite having yet another of his vivid dreams, Akira did not wake up immediately, as this one was different. Rather than horror or distress, the dream had given him a newfound feeling of self-possession. Akechi had taunted him. Akira had gleefully returned the favor. He felt very satisfied, and motivated to do his utmost best to elude Akechi.

He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell his teammates about it - this felt personal. Something like a duel. But then again, it was highly probable that Akechi might actually have the means to catch them, if he had access to the Metaverse. Akira wasn't entirely sure. But also, he wondered, did Akechi know about the supposed criminal in the black mask? And, if so, what was he doing about it?

Perhaps he ought to mention it to Akechi the next time they spoke… If they spoke, that is. But anyway, he had a school to go to, and a book to return. No way did Akira want to keep a supposedly sentient book around any longer - it creeped him the fuck out! So he stuffed Mastering the Art of Lucid Dreaming into his schoolbag with Morgana and was off.

"You're returning that smelly book?"

"Yep." Akira said as he traversed the Shujin hallways to head to the library.

"Thank goodness," said Morgana, "It was really uncomfortable traveling with such a smelly book!"

Akira arrived at the library, and, ignoring all the rude whispering about his presence, walked up to the front desk and spoke to the librarian. "Excuse me," he said, "I'd like to return this book." He placed it upon the desk. The librarian picked it up and examined it with a confused look on her face.

"I - I'm sorry?" she said. "I don't believe Shujin owns this book. I've never seen it before in my life."

Akira was similarly confused. "Er. Excuse me? I'm sorry, I checked this out about a month ago…"

The librarian shook her head. "No, I have no - uh - 'Mastering the Art of Lucid Dreaming?'" She typed it into the computer and hit enter. After a moment, she sighed and showed him a half-baffled, half-apologetic look. "We have no record of this book in the catalog. Are you sure you're returning it to the right library?"

"Uh…"

Akira sighed. Morgana groaned. "Damn it! What are you gonna do about that smelly book now?"

He resolved to take it back. "I'm sorry, I must have mixed it up with another book… what is checked out under my name?"

The librarian did another quick search. "Kurusu Akira, was it… uh… yes… er… you don't have anything checked out. Yet it says you have been banned from the library for unacceptably overdue materials…"

"What?!"

"I… I'm as confused as you are," she sighed. "I certainly didn't enact this… it doesn't say who did. I'm not certain." The librarian was obviously very tired of all this. "I… I know you're innocent. As soon as I figure out what's happening, I'll remove the ban."

"Er - but - uh"

"I'll try to sort this out," The librarian said. "When you're allowed back into the library, I'll have your homeroom teacher take you a message."

* * *

Akira was confused by his failed efforts to return the book, and Morgana was not pleased that he had to share real estate with it longer. But there was not much he could do, and he didn't want to simply throw it away - if it was truly alive as Akechi had said, perhaps it would take revenge or some nonsense. He knew of no one else who would want it - besides Yusuke, perhaps, but it would be awkward to give it back to him so soon after he had graciously returned it.

Furthermore, he actually wasn't sure he really wanted anyone else to have this book now. It seemed kind of dangerous. In fact, perhaps it was best that he keep it…

It was a good few days later now - 7/10. Kaneshiro's heart had changed, he'd turned himself in yesterday, and everything was all fine and dandy. Sojiro was out, doing something about a printer. Akira was watching Leblanc, doing the dishes and practicing his coffee making skills. Sippp. Pretty good… he was certain Akechi would enjoy this cup. Not that he would ever make him one, of course.

His phone rang. It was Ryuji. "Hey, it's me! Where you at? Watcha doin'?"

* * *

Akira's friends came over to study for final exams that evening, and had some lively discussions. Akechi also once again appeared on TV to denounce them, which greatly angered Ryuji. At Ann's suggestion, they agreed to go to a fireworks festival, and Akira was actually pretty excited.

After they all finished studying and bid Akira farewell, he remembered something he had forgotten to ask and shot the group chat a text message.

 **Akira:** Hey, Yusuke, did you notice anything weird about that book?  
 **Yusuke:** The dreaming guide?  
 **Akira:** Yeah.  
 **Yusuke:** Well, it was oddly phrased, and it seemed strange, but I hardly thought to question it. It did work, after all.

So Yusuke hadn't had any experiences like what he had had…

 **Yusuke:** Why? Is something wrong with it?  
 **Akira:** Nah, I was just thinking how strange it is. Like you said. It does seem kind of weird.  
 **Yusuke:** I see…  
 **Yusuke:** By the way, I noticed you reacted in a strange way when that detective appeared on the TV talking about us…  
 **Akira:** Yeah, well, we all kind of had a reaction.  
 **Ryuji:** Dude, not just that. I noticed it too. You had some sort of… I don't know. You seemed pretty apprehensive.

Should he tell them? He still wasn't really sure. He didn't want to freak them out.

He decided on a compromise.

 **Akira:** I think Akechi is suspicious of us. He has no evidence pointing to us as the culprits, but he's sent me a couple of messages alluding to as much.  
 **Ryuji:** Dude, seriously?!  
 **Ryuji:** This is fucked up! What if he tracks us or gets someone to frisk us or something?  
 **Akira:** I wouldn't worry about it. He hasn't got any grounds to search us or anything.  
 **Ann:** Are you sure about that?... I hear he works with Makoto's sister. If he were to ask her to check her room for some evidence or something -  
 **Makoto:** I have nothing in my possession which would point to us being the Phantom Thieves. My phone is kept with me and secure at all times, and I did delete that recording of all of you as promised.  
 **Makoto:** Furthermore, asking my sister to pry into my personal affairs simply based on a hunch of his would be undiplomatic of him. I'm sure he doesn't want to get on her bad side.  
 **Yusuke:** Hmm… the Kosei High dorms are only open to students, but there are no locks here. It would not be too difficult for Akechi or someone else to discreetly gain access… I shall keep an eye out for him.  
 **Akira:** Sounds like we don't have any problems yet. Ryuji, do please stop shouting about us in public.  
 **Ryuji:** I know, man… I'll try my best.

* * *

7/18 - The street was blocked off for the festival. A huge crowd of people was there, waiting in eager anticipation. A few fireworks went off… people cheered… and then a few drops of water fell upon the ground. The drops became a pour, and the pour soaked everyone… Everyone groaned in disappointment.

It was raining. Now, of all times, it was raining. And so suddenly, too. Why? Akira wondered. He had just caught a break. Oh well… his friends were still here… Yusuke put his fan above his head in an effort to shield himself from the water. Makoto toweled herself off.

An announcement came on about the festival being prematurely ended… the streets were now nearly empty, everyone having fled indoors. Except for one poofy-haired girl, being led into a car by a chauffeur holding an umbrella over her head… Akira felt like he'd seen her somewhere before.

"That girl…" he asked. "Is she a Shujin student?"

"I think so," Makoto said, "she does look familiar…"

"Yeah," said Ryuji, "I've seen her around someplace. Doesn't she do landscaping or gardening as a hobby or somethin'?"

"Does it matter?" Ann protested, not very interested, "let's just get out of the rain already!"

* * *

"Justice, huh?" said Sojiro, in reaction to the news on TV.

"'We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.'" the reporter read from their statement. "Akechi-san, why do you think the announcement was made at this time?"

Akechi again? wondered Akira. He took a brief glance at the tv, then, feigning passive interest, returned his attention to the dishes.

Akechi continued talking… "Both Medjed and the Phantom Thieves are nothing more than groups that uphold an egoistic sense of justice."

 _Egoistic? Well, you're one to talk._

"What a stupid thing they're getting riled up on…" Sojiro commented. "Phantom Thieves, huh? What in the world are they? You know about them?"

"Nah," Akira said, faking ignorance. Sojiro sighed. "Seriously? You can't take part in small talk? You really oughta show more interest in what's going on in the world."

 _Oh Sojiro… If only you knew…_

* * *

"Coffee good for you?"

Akira was back in Leblanc again.

Instead of his regular civilian clothes, he was simply wearing his Joker outfit - however, Sojiro did not seem to register any difference. Akira wondered why, but did not have long to wait - the TV turned on of its own accord.

"Today, Medjed released information allegedly pointing to the identity of the Phantom Thieves. The police have reviewed this information and apprehended five suspects. They have been confirmed to be high school students, but their names have not yet been released at this time. A sixth member remains at large."

Akira's jaw dropped. Phantom Thieves? Apprehended? His dreams had taken a serious turn for the worst. He opened up the group chat on his phone, finding a bunch of messages…

 **Ryuji:** HOLY CRAP THE POLICE ARE HERE TO ARREST ME! FUCK! They know who we are guys! Run!  
 **Yusuke:** Too late. I have been detained and am now being questioned as we speak.  
 **Makoto:** The look on my sister's face… I'm sorry, everyone. She was able to get me out of the police's hands, but I'm under surveillance and have been placed under house arrest.  
 **Ann:** This cop is such a creepy perv!  
 **Morgana:** HOW DID THEY GET ME TOO?! And where did they get CAT-SIZED HANDCUFFS?

Shocked, Akira sent back a reply.

 **Akira:** Oh god… but, if you've all been arrested, how are you sending these messages? Didn't the police confiscate your phones?

 _Morgana is typing…_  
 _Ryuji is typing…_  
 _Ann is typing…_  
 _Yusuke is typing…_  
 _Makoto is typing…_

But before any of them could answer, the door to Leblanc opened.

"Kurusu Akira. That is your name, yes?"

Akira stood up. _I can't let it end like this._

"Yeah, sure it is. Try and catch me!"

Akira leaped into the air and dived over the police officers, landing behind them and in front of Leblanc's entrance. As he did so, the cops turned around and began to pursue him, but Akira was far gone. Uncertain about what would await him outside, he opened the door and dashed out of the shop -

But was subdued by an unseen force.

He got up and looked out into his surroundings. There was… nothing. Nothing but Leblanc, which appeared to be literally floating in empty space. The area was cloudy, and his vision grew very hazy, his mind tired out… and then Akira collapsed. He was no longer able to move.

He was literally stuck in the middle of nowhere.

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (published on Ao3 5/23/2017):**_ This was a really difficult chapter to write. I've been running out of steam somewhat, but music helps. Some miscellaneous things to note -

\- I'm decided to base some details of the story on what I did in my NG+, which was pretty much everything. I did all the confidants, secret boss, missed one Mementos request. Akira has max social stats already.  
\- I had a whole thing with Akira and Makoto written out, but then I remembered that her social link doesn't start until after Kaneshiro so it wouldn't make too much sense. I still have the scene written, but I'm saving it for later.  
\- I really really like the second Akechi dream scene I wrote. Writing about Akechi and Akira is one of my favorite things to do.  
\- I didn't like the manner in which Haru was introduced into the plot in the actual game. She's a great character, but the game just kind of plops her into the story out of nowhere. I kind of want to fix this. I only translated her first appearance into here (with a little extra dialogue) so that I could build off that.  
\- There'll probably be another Mementos trip in the next chapter. Futaba's ending will most surely be covered, unless I think of something else to do. I've already written part of it, and got a pretty good idea of how it'll play out.  
\- I've been updating this daily since it started, but I'm thinking about slowing down a bit. I'm a pretty fast writer, but I'm running out of ideas a bit. I kind of enjoy pushing out stuff every day like this, but I'll do whatever. If any of you have feedback on when you want updates or what you'd like to see happen or questions you have, or anything else really, that'd be cool. If not, I'll just keep rolling on as is, since people seem to reading and enjoying it. :)

Oh, yeah, and Akira's totally fine. He didn't break his dream or anything. He'll wake up, same as usual, next chapter. Next time. Thanks as always for reading, and especially for sticking with me this far!


	7. Dream Fortune

_**BANG!**_

"HEY, INMATE! WAKE UP!"

Caroline's voice rang through Akira's ears, sending him rolling off of the cell cot in surprise as though he had been shocked with a jolt of electricity. _What am I doing here? This seems rather sudden…_

He stood up and looked out of the bars. Igor was not at his desk. Caroline and Justine were looking into Akira's cell from within the Velvet Room, and looked dead serious. "Where's Igor?" asked Akira.

"Our master is currently unavailable," said Justine. "He has business to attend to elsewhere. There is an urgent matter we must speak to you about."

"Okay…" Akira sat upon the floor of his cell so that he could make level eye contact with the twins. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Your dream world has been sabotaged, you imbecile!" shouted Caroline. "A malicious being has invaded your psyche and is attempting to inhibit your free spirit!"

"... What?"

"You do recall where you were last?" inquired Justine patiently.

Akira thought about it for a second… right… Leblanc. It had been stranded in space. But it wasn't a big deal, right? It was just his dream. No… his head hurt.

"I… I was lost…" he racked his brain trying to make sense of it.

"Yes," said Justine, "we could sense your spirit slipping away into endless oblivion, and we rescued you."

 _WHAT?! Rescued me? I was in danger?!_

"The bounds of your dream world have been pierced." Caroline said coldly. "You ought not to have been able to exit your recreation of that coffee shop - but you very foolishly did, and you were very nearly lost forever. Your soul had departed from your heart. If we had not extracted you here, you would have surely died in reality!"

 _!_

"I… I don't understand… what must I do?"

"Your dream world would not normally be our concern," explained Justine, "but these are particular circumstances. As Caroline has already said, a creature of ill intent has invaded your inner mind. We cannot permit this abomination to continue lest your rehabilitation be ended prematurely."

"But… but why? What does it want? Is it Akechi? Can you get it out of me?"

"We do not know; no, it isn't Akechi Goro; and no, we can't help you get rid of it," said Justine. "That is not part of our rehabilitation for you - it is a strength you must find within yourself of your own accord. And we don't know for certain what it seeks to accomplish," said Justine, "but we have an idea of what that might be. Do you recall what we told you before, about having to find a path through your memories?" Akira nodded.

"It is likely seeking to hinder your progress through that path, by scrambling your dreams and using them against you to corrupt your memories." Caroline said. "And if it succeeds -"

"Yes, if it succeeds -" Justine repeated, and then the twins spoke in harmony -

 **"You will meet your ruin!"**

Akira was shocked. "I - er - how -"

"Gather the willpower to stop it, inmate!" said Caroline. "Take back your mind which is rightfully yours!" The bell rang. "Our time is up," said Justine. "It's as Caroline says - you must save your own mind! The success of your rehabilitation depends on it!"

And with that, the Velvet Room disappeared.

* * *

Akira awakened again. An evil being trying to corrupt his psyche? He wasn't sure he could believe it. Did it make sense? Mostly. Kinda sorta. There were many things he didn't quite follow about the workings of his dreams yet. And - was it related to that book? Maybe? It couldn't be… it didn't make sense. The thing that had given him his skills of lucid dreaming, deliberately trying to defeat the very purpose it taught?

He honestly wasn't sure of anything anymore. For the time being, he decided it didn't really matter too much…

* * *

It was 7/19. His dreams were under attack, the Phantom Thieves were being chased by hackers in reality - and he had no leads for how to solve either problem. Well, he supposed they would just have to search for any such leads…

The search for clues on Medjed turned up nothing useful. He was in class, and Kawakami was talking about an emergency assembly on the 25th. Akira was confused and tired… Perhaps it would be a good idea for everyone to take a breather. He discreetly pulled out his phone.

 **Akira:** Hey, how's about we go to Mementos to take our mind off all this nonsense?  
 **Ryuji:** Sounds good to me. Everyone else?  
 **Yusuke:** I'm fine with it. I've got nothing in particular scheduled for today.  
 **Makoto:** I think it sounds like an excellent idea. I just recently got some new brass knuckles for fighting Shadows that I wanted to try out, so this works out well.  
 **Ann:** Sounds alright to me.  
 **Akira:** Awesome. See you all at Shibuya today.

* * *

After class ended, Kawakami came over to him to tell him something. "Akira…" she spoke in a hushed tone. "I just wanted to say, thank you very much for requesting me this weekend… and thank you for listening." She sighed, clearly very tired. "Anyway… the librarian told me to give you a message - she sorted out something about a mistaken book. You're allowed back in now."

Akira nodded appreciatively. "No problem. And thank you for the message." With that, he left the classroom and headed outside.

At the entrance to Shujin, he saw a familiar face… a poofy-haired girl. She was tending to the shrubbery, and looked very lonely.

"Hello there - have I seen you before?"

The girl turned and looked at him. "Oh, uh - hello!" She seemed rather reserved. "I - uh - I don't recognize you."

"I'm Kurusu Akira," he said. "You are?"

"Uh -" she turned away shyly. "My - my name is Haru. Uh, Akira-kun -"

"Just Akira is fine," he said, smiling at her warmly. Akira sensed that Haru was in need of a friend. "I - I remember! I saw you yesterday at the fireworks festival…"

"O - oh." Haru was reluctant to approach Akira. "I'm sorry… Akira… You seem very kind, but - I - I don't feel like talking. I apologize."

"Oh." Akira was disappointed. Haru seemed like a rather nice girl. "I apologize if I bothered you…"

"No, uh, not at all! Uh, my father… my father is very strict…" she gasped quietly, as though she had said something she shouldn't have. Akira was a bit concerned. "Er - Please, forgive me for prying but - is your father -"

"He's - No! I don't want to -"

"Are you not on good terms with him?"

Haru was silent. After a beat, she spoke slowly and carefully, clearly struggling to contain herself. Akira sensed that the interaction had gone much too far south, and didn't know whether to expect her to start bawling or punch him in the face.

She did neither, but instead, spoke carefully and deliberately. "No. I am not on good terms with my father. But - I don't think he would approve of me talking to you about it -" Haru cried a little. "I'm truly sorry. I think it's best that we don't speak again. Please leave me be." She returned to her gardening work.

 _Well, that was pointless,_ Akira thought. Haru seemed to be harboring a lot of deep-seated negative feelings, but she clearly didn't want his help or his company, and he didn't want to make it worse or alienate her. He decided it was best to do as she said, so he left Shujin behind and headed for Shibuya.

* * *

"I met that girl from yesterday again," said Joker, who was riding shotgun in the Mona bus. He was very tired out, so he had handed over driving duties to Queen today. He felt this was for the best, since she actually had a license.

"Oh?" said Queen, curiously.

"Yes - her name is Haru. She was doing something with the shrubs in front of Shujin. I tried to talk to her, but she wasn't very open with me…" he sighed. "She said something about her father. It seems like she's not very socially active - probably a case of overprotective parent."

"Ah…" said Panther, "well, that would explain the chauffeur. But Joker, why did you bother talking to her? It's none of your business what's going on with her family life…"

"I -" Hm, Panther had a point. Perhaps Akira had been a bit too nosy. "Well - she looked sad. I really wanted to help."

"Ah, Joker, you'll help anyone, won't you?" said Queen. "You have a very kind heart… I wish I knew more people as willing to help as you are."

"Yeah…" Joker supposed that was true. "I guess, I can't ignore anyone in need. I mean, none of us can, right? That's why we're all here…"

Moments of silence passed.

"Actually," said Panther, "that reminds me of… me, Joker. When you came to talk to me about Kamoshida. I refused your help and ran from you - because I was afraid…" Ann sat in a quiet reverie, thinking of that day. "Yet you just wouldn't give up on trying to help me - and you did. I was scared, but, well… I'm glad you didn't walk away now."

"And me," said Fox, "I turned you away, threatened to report you - but you didn't stop trying to save me. You kept at it. I am truly thankful for your persistent interference."

"My situation as well," said Queen. "I had stalked you, interrogated, blackmailed you, and I recklessly placed myself in danger. You could have left me to be ruined by Kaneshiro, but you all came to save me. I - I… didn't deserve that. You are truly courageous and selfless individuals."

"Queen…" said Joker. He had seen for himself, in his dreams, what Makoto could have faced, had they walked away. He knew… "We couldn't let you go. Whatever Kaneshiro was going to do to you - that was what you didn't deserve." He said it with the strongest of convictions. "Don't fool yourself into believing otherwise."

Queen was quiet for a moment. "You're right. This girl, Haru…" she took a deep breath. "Perhaps, she thinks like we all used to. Perhaps she needs help, just like us."

"I think so too," Joker seconded. "She seemed miserable… I don't feel good letting that go."

"Hell yeah!" said Skull. "I say we help her whether she likes it or not! Just like we all did for each other - just like Akira did for that woman back in his hometown!"

"I agree," said Mona, "we can't let it be if someone's in need!"

"But…" said Fox, "While I agree on principle, don't we still have Medjed to figure out?"

"Yes," Panther agreed, "We're already facing a bigger problem. We can't get sidetracked - we can only do so much at a time."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that's true," Skull disappointedly replied. "Man… but we don't have any clue what to do about that though! It'd be nice if we had something else to focus on while we worked it out…"

"I know, I know," Joker affirmed. "I meant, if we were to do anything, it would be after this case is taken care of. And as for something else to do, well, that's why we're here."

"Eh, that's true too." Skull agreed.

Everyone sat in silent consensus. After a few moments, Skull asked, "Hey, Mona, does this car got a radio?"

"A radio?" asked Mona, surprised. "I guess that could be possible…"

Joker looked around curiously, and - "Oh, hey!" As it happened, there was a small set of buttons below the central A/C unit. Funnily enough, it hadn't been there before today. "Yeah, I guess there is now that we became cognitive of it. We can play CDs too, it looks like…"

"Oh cool!" said Mona. "Joker, we can buy CDs at the underground mall! All right!"

"Whoa!" said Skull. "I just talked about a radio and there it is? Eh, I'll take it!" He pulled a CD out of his bag - "Funnily enough, I just happened to have this on me - can we listen to it, Joker?"

Joker took the CD from the back and looked at the cover. It was some kind of rock album. "Yeah, that seems pretty cool!" he said, and he popped in the CD. Instantly, a grooving sort of rock song with English lyrics began to pipe out of the suddenly existent speakers within Mona.

"Whoa," said Ann, "this song sounds dark."

 _I will_  
 _BURN MY DREAD!_  
 _I once ran away from the god of fear_  
 _And he chained me to despair_

"It's so cool!" said Skull.

"I don't understand the lyrics, but the musical style is enthralling." Fox remarked.

"Hang on a sec," said Mona, "I can sense our target this way! Looks like we'll have to stop the music for now, everyone."

"All right, let's go!" said Joker. Queen drove full speed ahead into the swirling red vortex where they would find Yuya Uchimura's Shadow.

* * *

Akira was tired after the long afternoon in Mementos. Ms. Kawakami was on top of him, giving him a massage. "I can't believe I'm massaging my own student…" she commented. "If people found out about this I'd never hear the end of it."

"Don't worry," Akira said. "They won't fi - AHHH that feels pretty intense."

"Is that good or bad?"

"I… I don't know…" he breathed in and out a little bit. "It's unique. I like it."

"Why thank you!" Kawakami then made an interesting inquiry. "So, that coupon you used to get this message from me - unlimited use apparently, huh? Where did you get it?"

"I… I don't know." he murmured. "I feel like you gave it to me… in a past life."

"Seriously? How could that be?"

"Beats me… ahhhh…"

Kawakami stopped the massage and got up off of his bed. "Feeling better now?"

Akira stretched his arms and legs out, then turned and very neatly sat up. Kawakami's massages were amazing. His exhaustion had been relieved, and he felt totally and completely reenergized. "Yeah, that was perfect. Thanks!"

"See you later Master!" Kawakami said, beaming at him with her usual sleepy smile. With that, she turned and left, but Akira called out, "hey wait!"

She turned, "Oh, uh - yes?"

"Could you stay here a bit longer and make coffee for me?" Kawakami seemed reluctant. "I'll pay you extra!" Akira assured her.

"Oh… alright, I'll do it."

"Thank youuuuuuuuuu." He smiled at Kawakami sweetly. "Now, Master has business elsewhere, so, please stay put until I get back. I won't be long, I swear."

"As you wish, Master!" Akira laughed. It felt silly to think this about this teacher, but Kawakami was truly adorable. He left Leblanc and headed to Shinjuku.

* * *

"What?!" Chihaya was incredulous. "That's impossible! That couldn't have -" she turned over the last card in her reading. "That's unbelievable - her reading for the future - the 'Death' Arcana has moved far off into the future -"

"Told ya!" Akira grinned. "Fate is not absolute."

"No… no! That can't -" Chihaya looked like a pouting child. "Did you make a deal with her boyfriend or something? Threaten him? Offer him money?"

"Nah," said Akira, "I just persuaded him. I'm a very smooth talker." Which wasn't untrue, naturally - Yoshida had taught him everything he knew.

"It couldn't have been that easy!" Chihaya simply refused to believe him. "Did you lock him in a metal drum with insects? Plunge him into Tokyo Bay? Or - or - steal something from him and refuse to give it back unless he complied?"

"I'm just a kid," said Akira, although that third one was kinda close, but he wouldn't acknowledge it. "A very convicted teenager. I just told him his own life would be hell if he kept it up."

"I -" she sighed. "I suppose that holds water… you're just an ordinary person after all, it seems… but there's no way that could have happened… without breaking the law…"

Chihaya sat and thought intently for a few moments, then said,

"I must verify this power! This is a serious predicament for me…"

"Why's that?" Akira was now genuinely curious.

"Isn't it what they say - 'you can't beat them, then join them?' If I have you overturning fates and taking away my customers, then I'll be ruined! I'd like you to work with me."

"Hmm. Sounds interesting. On what conditions?"

"You sit with me while I tell fortunes. If another unopposable fate happens to appear…" Chihaya continued, excited and determined - "Then I'll test your power!"

 _Hmm,_ thought Akira. _Well, her fortune was correct the first time. And she does seem genuinely well-meaning._ But… "And what do I get from this deal?" he asked.

"Well… oh! I know! I'll read your fortune anytime, for free!"

Akira narrowed his eyes. "Huh, I'm not so sure about that…"

"Pleaseeee?" Chihaya was desperate. "I'll prioritize you over my other customers! Plus, once I get to know you better - I can give you more accurate predictions!"

Akira thought for a minute. _Seeing as I am at my wits end with my dreams… this could be useful…_

"Please. I beg you… I need to know if fate can truly be changed!"

"Alright."

Chihaya had buried her face in her hands and suddenly started crying for some reason. "How will I tell the chairman about this - Aggghhh! Uh -" And then she came back to earth. "What? Really? You - you will?" She looked thrilled. "Thank you so much!"

"How about we start now?" Akira asked. "There's a particular fortune I actually really wanted read."

"Oh, yes! Okay, let's start -" Chihaya pulled out her tarot cards. "What do you want your fortune read on?"

"Well," Akira began, phrasing it carefully, "I've been… sleeping restlessly. Lots of really strange and upsetting dreams. What does my fortune say about getting rid of them?"

Chihaya began to flip over her cards, and soon arrived at… "The Hanged Man… but how could this… lead to…"

She turned to look at Akira. "I can't say for certain - but it looks like you will find yourself facing a difficult path. You will need to fail to succeed… I…" she looked at her tarot cards again and sighed. "It doesn't make much sense! There's Death over here, but also the Emperor - and it seems like your dream world will find itself reborn, somehow…"

"Reborn?" Chihaya had Akira's full attention now. He was actually getting some clues, however vague, on how to stop the monster attacking his dreams! "But how?"

"I… I can't get a clear reading…" said Chihaya. "There's also something about your spirit disappearing… for some reason - what? I…" she sighed. "You've made me read an indecipherable reading - you truly are a handful. I think that'll have to be all for today."

She smiled at him. "Thank you again for accepting my offer. Please don't blow me off, okay?" Akira nodded in acknowledgement. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Excellent! I'll see you again soon, then. I look forward to verifying your skills!"

With that, Akira went home, got his coffee from Kawakami, and was soon off to sleep, looking forward to hopefully confronting the entity invading his mind.

* * *

But he had no dreams that night… Apart from Igor coming to talk to him about Medjed, his sleep was wholly uninterrupted.

A few more days passed, and Akira had no more dreams. Was everything truly alright? Or had the problem gone away?

He decided not to worry about it. Today was 7/24/2016, and he was going to go eat sushi in Ginza with his friends. Everything was going to be fine.

When he arrived, the team had a long conversation over sushi about Futaba, Sojiro, and Alibaba. Not much of it made sense, and they were still totally nowhere - even though they had agreed to dismiss the case, Akira sensed that something was still left undone regarding this matter.

Still, the sushi was good. Morgana seemed to agree - he was purring contentedly as Akira discreetly fed it into his bag.

"Still, this is delicious," Yusuke remarked, "I've never experienced anything quite like this before."

"Yeah!" Ryuji said in agreement, "And it's all thanks to us being the PHANTOM THIEVES - !"

 _GAHHH! shut up!_ Akira, and everyone else, nearly jumped out of their seats. They had attracted the attention of everyone around them - the customers, the cook, everyone.

Makoto thought quickly though, and said, "Uhhh - PHAN - phan - tastic! This sushi is fantastic! We're really fans of it! Like, a ton!"

"The fish is SOOO FRESH!" said Ann animatedly, her poor acting charming as usual.

"Yeah!" said Akira. "It's totally a THIEF - of stomach space!" Makoto hit him in the side. "Ahhh… what?"

"That's a ridiculous thing to say!" Makoto reprimanded.

"Hey, you weren't any less ridiculous in your escape -"

"It doesn't matter," said Ann, "they don't care anymore." She was correct, everyone around had shrugged off the odd happening and was now acting like nothing had ever happened. "But Ryuji! Think of where we are!"

"Didn't I tell you to stop shouting?" Akira added.

"Sorry… it just kinda slipped…"

"That won't sit with the authorities if we get caught and end up in prison, awaiting an assuredly rigged trial for stealing hearts," Yusuke said. "Please think more carefully."

Makoto sighed at this remark. "A rigged trial… I wonder…"

"What?" asked Akira. Makoto shook her head. "I was just thinking about what my sister would do about me, if we were caught."

"She'd probably try to use your connections to bail you out of jail -" began Akira, but Makoto finished for him.

"Yes, and I would very likely find myself placed under house arrest and monitored by the police…" she sighed. "Imagine, if my sister saved me but let all of my friends face an unfair 'justice…'" she looked rather sad.

"Makoto… uh…" The similarity between her conjecture and what had happened in his dream was startling.

Makoto sighed. "I'm sorry for bringing down the mood. It's not important. Shall we finish our meal and go?"

* * *

It was on the way back while transferring in Shibuya that Akira heard an obnoxiously falsely pleasant voice. "Niijima-san! What are you doing here?" Makoto and Akira turned their heads to see - Akechi Goro, of all people. Akira locked eyes with him. The look in his eyes all but confirmed it - the Akechi in reality and the one who had intruded upon his dreams were one and the same. He seemed to be saying, I have found you. I win.

 _You won this round, Akechi,_ Akira communicated defiantly, _but you still have no evidence. You still have to find me in the Metaverse. THEN we'll talk._

Akechi seemed to pick up this signal, and very subtly bowed his head, as though nodding in agreement. _Oh, I'll find you there too. I'll win, sooner or later._

"You're the ones from the TV station… could it be that you're friends of Niijima-san?"

 _No "could be" about it!_ Akira thought. _I love Makoto… uh, well, never mind._

"Do you know this guy?" asked Yusuke, and then, recognizing him, said, "Ah, I see… you're the TV detective…"

"Ah, where are my manners?" _Inflated, along with your ego,_ thought Akira. "Nice to meet you! My name is Akechi Goro." _We already knew that!_ "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Kitagawa Yusuke."

"How do you know my name?"

"Well, it's because I'm a psychic of course!" Akechi laughed.

 _That might not be too far off, actually._

"Ha, no, in truth I'm just a rookie detective. You're a former pupil of Madarame, right?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Ryuji demanded. "What d'you want from us?"

"Come now, there's no need to be so rude," said Akechi, "but since you're asking - I wanted to ask you some questions. Especially you." He turned to Akira and winked knowingly. "I just recently joined the team investigating the Phantom Thieves. Did you see that Medjed had declared war on them?"

 _WHAT? They just said some stupid shit about fake justice…_

"Their website was updated a moment ago," said Akechi.

"For real?!" Ryuji yelped. Ann took out her phone and opened it up. "English again… hm…"

"Why are you all so agitated?" asked Akechi.

"Oh, um - Ann and I are huge fans of the Phantom Thieves!"

"Hm. I don't know how wise it is to be a fan of groups like them…" Akechi mused. "In fact, you're an interesting group. An honor student and prosecutor's sister, a delinquent, a model, a former pupil of Madarame, and… you." He turned to Akira. "It seems you're all connected to the Phantom Thieves. Perhaps you have better intel than I do… what was I… ah, yes, I wanted to ask you something."

 _Bring it on. You won't be able to deduce shit about us._

"By all means." Akira said, with the usual air of false politeness he carried around Akechi.

"Regarding this whole Medjed commotion - if you were one of the Phantom Thieves, what would you do?"

Akira laughed. "They're a bunch of phonies. I'd just ignore them."

Akechi was surprised. _Gotcha,_ Akira thought.

"Really? Only a handful of people seem to believe that is the best course of action… you've surprised me yet again, Akira."

"Sorry, we're just normal highschool kids. If anything, we wanna hear what you gotta say, Mr. Detective," said Ryuji.

"Very well… my profiling of the Phantom Thieves have led me to believe they are a group of juveniles. They have a relative amount of free time after school, and a hideout to slip away to. It seems they began activity around April since Kamoshida was their first target… and in fact…" Akechi looked at the group, feigning curiosity, then looked Akira straight in the eye. Check, he seemed to be saying.

"Those details all seem to coincide with this group right here."

"So what, you gonna report us? You got nothing on us, dude."

"I didn't say I was suspicious of you," said Akechi.

Akira scowled at Akechi. _Don't tell me you know check, Akechi,_ Akira thought defiantly. _I have the best shogi master! I know a check when I see one, and this is not it._

"What are you talking about? We'd never even heard of you before all this Phantom Thieves business. If you ask me, you're the suspicious one."

Akechi's eyes widened. "Hm!" he acted surprised. "I wasn't anticipating that response. You always find a way to rise above my expectations. I lack your calm mannerisms… but don't you think my deduction is an interesting one?" Akechi chuckled. "I bet we'd make a great team if we worked together."

* * *

"Are you okay, Futaba?" Sojiro's voice called out.

"Crap," said Ryuji, "he's home!"

Ryuji, Ann, and Yusuke all ran to hide. Akira would have joined them, but a terrified, gibbering Makoto was still clutching his leg, and that was kind of hampering his freedom of motion. "Makoto!" he hissed, "please, let go of me!"

Sojiro burst in. "Who the hell are you? Don't move!" He picked up a flashlight with his right hand, while holding out his left apprehensively. "You hear me?" Naturally, not like Akira could move anyway, and Makoto obviously wasn't in the mood.

Sojiro turned on the flashlight, and his face turned to confusion when he saw who it was.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msosorrySissomebodypleasesaveme…"

* * *

Akira went straight to sleep after Morgana came back from Sojiro's house. He needed his rest. The Phantom Thieves were going to save Futaba. Tomorrow was going to be a very important day.

Once again, that night, Akira had no dreams. He found it unsettling - was he being denied access to his dream world by this entity? Or had he just had no reason to dream lately… Did it have anything to do with Akechi? Justine had said it wasn't him… but that didn't mean there wasn't a connection…

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (published on AO3 5/24/2017):**_ I didn't get to Futaba's ending as I thought I would - there was a LOT in between stuff I really wanted to write. I'm really happy with the Haru scene I wrote up especially. And Morgana having a radio in Mementos is something I really wanted to happen in the actual game - the Mementos music got pretty boring. I thought, "hey it's the cognitive world anything can happen, let's write some fun shit!" I credit this comic with planting the idea in my mind.

As for updates, I've decided for the time being to just keep updating every day unless I don't feel like it. Doesn't seem like anyone particularly cares so long as it doesn't die off. Thanks to all of you for reading, continuing to read, just starting to read, whatever. I've got some really cool ideas in mind for the incoming chapters.

I got to do a lot of fun character stuff here, so, I hope you enjoyed it! And as always I appreciate any kind of feedback. (also, shoutout to anyone who catches the NG+ reference. :) )


	8. 8-21-20XX

_**Original Opening Note (published on AO3 5/25/2017):**_ Just a warning, I wrote a _slightly_ graphic description of Futaba's fate postmortem. If you're not into that kind of stuff, I suggest you either mentally prepare yourself or not read it. If you opt for the latter, I will forgive you :)

* * *

"Coffee good for you?"

Something felt wrong. Something horrible had happened… but Akira could not remember what it was.

 _The tomb… we needed to raid the tomb… ?_

 _ **Akira… Akira, do you remember me?**_

A voice… a very young, female voice. _Futaba…_

 _ **Yes…** _ Futaba sounded anguished. _**Thank you for letting me go…**_

 _What? What do you mean? We…_ Akira remembered now. _We stole your heart…_

 _ **No. You can't steal hearts. You lied to me!**_

"Kurusu Akira. That is your name, yes?"

 _ **The men in suits are here… right?**_

 _What?_

 _ **They've come to get you… for letting me die… Good. You deserve to pay for all that you've done.**_

 _I… I don't understand…_

A memory came to Akira's mind…

* * *

 _ **DREAM MEMORY - 8/20/20XX**_

 _ **Akira is in his room. Morgana has left. He has gone and snuck into Sojiro's house to check on Futaba, several minutes ago…**_

 _ **He hasn't returned yet. Akira seems restless.**_

 _ **Akira (muttering): I forgot… something - I forgot about… ermm… Medjed. Medjed… who were they? Phonies… right…**_

 _ **Morgana bursts in through the window, evidently panicked.**_

 _ **Morgana: Akira! AKIRA! WE'RE IN TROUBLE!**_  
 _ **Akira (murmuring deliriously): I don't… mmm Medjed… who were they. Doesn't matter… I like curry…  
Morgana: Akira what is wrong with you?! LISTEN TO ME! FUTABA IS DEAD! SHE HUNG HERSELF! AKIRA - AKIRA!**_

 _ **Akira does not seem to register Morgana's words…**_

* * *

Akira say, startled by this sudden recollection - what - what had happened - why?!

 _ **Yes, Akira… I guess the Phantom Thieves were frauds… they couldn't save me. But I like it here now. Thank you… for abandoning me.**_

 _No… no… Futaba… Alibaba… you can't have…_

"Coercion and blackmail… suspected of being a Phantom Thief…"

 _My head hurts…_

 _ **My head hurt worse, Akira. But it was sooo worth it…**_

"Hold on a second! Did he really…"

Akira barely heard any of the words. Futaba's voice in his head was much too overwhelming.

"Are you Sojiro Sakura? … suspecting of assisting and harboring a wanted criminal…"

 _ **Ah, Sojiro. Yes, he killed me too. He wouldn't come into my room to help me - to save me…**_

 _You never let him in! Futaba, stop thinking such awful things. This isn't you! Please!_

"We were dispatched to retrieve you as well."

"Wha - Me too?!"

"You're coming with us… it has to be now."

And then everyone else disappeared - Sojiro, the officers…

 _ **Goodbye, Akira.**_

Akira's mind cleared, and he stood up carefully. He looked up and then he saw something truly horrifying, truly disgusting, and he screamed.

Futaba's pale corpse was hanging from the ceiling in Leblanc. Her bare feet were dripping with old blood which were coming from her lifeless veins. Her left hand was gripped around a pair of scissors, which was lodged in her leg and causing the blood to drip out… and many other holes were there too. Her face was writhed in pain.

… She had tried to end it quicker by making herself bleed. "Futaba…" Akira sobbed. "Futaba - whywhywhy - why?!"

 _ **Akira!**_

* * *

It was very hot. A voice was yelling in his ear for him to wake up…

 _I don't wanna…_

 _ **Akira! AKIRA! WAKE -**_

"WAKE UP!" shouted Makoto - no, Queen - from the driver's seat of the Morgana bus. Coming to his senses, Akira's eyes snapped awake. Mona! He had fallen asleep in Mona on the drive to the tomb! Holy crap… He had fallen asleep in the Metaverse? That was possible? He wouldn't have known… he'd never tried.

It was really really hot… naturally. They were in a desert. "DUDE!" yelled Skull, "come on! Rise and shine! We have a Treasure to steal!"

"The security level is through the roof! We have to do this fast!" shouted Mona.

"We do? We did? Futaba isn't dead?! Futaba isn't dead!" yelled Akira crazily, still only having just recovered. The Phantom Thieves looked at him like he was crazy. "Uh - of course Futaba isn't dead," Queen said slowly. "Joker! Get your head in the game!"

"Joker," asked Fox, sounding very concerned, "are you well? Did you have another dream?"

"It doesn't matter," said Ann, "we have to hurry! Come on!"

And then he remembered… The Treasure, the calling card, the pyramid. It was 8/9/2016, and the Phantom Thieves were here to steal Futaba's heart, save her from depression, and take town Medjed.

Joker nodded. "Right." He got out the Mona bus and tightened his crimson gloves. "It's showtime!" And with that, Mona resumed his normal form, and the Phantom Thieves of Hearts set out to raid the tomb.

Akira's favorite song blared in his ear from his mp3 player as he rushed up the stairs of Futaba's tomb to steal her treasure.

 _And our voices ring out, yeah_  
 _Took the mask off to feel free_  
 _Fought it out in the debris_  
 _Now we know that life will change_

He had found it on a CD when searching for songs to play in Mementos, and found that it got him really pumped up for Treasure heists. Akira thought the stylish English lyrics actually sounded kind of like they were made for the Phantom Thieves, oddly enough, and he thought it was super cool.

Enveloped in his thoughts as he stealthily dashed his way around the Shadows, he thought back about all the interesting things that had happened in between trips to Futaba's Palace…

* * *

 **8/1/2016 -**

It was early in the evening. Akira had spent the day hanging out with Yusuke and reading strange art books. Now they were sitting downstairs in Leblanc, while Akira brewed a couple of cups of coffee for them. "Akira," asked Yusuke from the bar, "that coffee smells delicious."

A sudden surge of inspiration gripped Akira, and he began to deviate from the recipe Sojiro had taught him. _This is going to be interesting…_

"Anyway," Yusuke continued, "My experiences with lucid dreaming continue to be a smashing success. A couple of nights ago I dreamed that I was riding a bearded dragon made out of jelly… I'm not sure how on Earth I came up with that! It was very strange, but also extremely satisfying. I tried to paint it, but I couldn't recall exactly what it looked like."

"You don't have to remember exactly," Akira pointed out encouragingly as he stirred the coffee and let it steep. "You could just make it up."

"I suppose," Yusuke acknowledged, "but outside of this dream, I have no clue what a bearded dragon made out of jelly looks like. I have nothing to use for reference, as I can't imagine where I would find such a thing… Despite the wonderful images opened to me in my dreams, it has not been very helpful with my slump. I still can't paint accurately…"

"Well," said Akira, "This bearded jelly dragon sounds like a totally original idea. If you paint it, whatever you paint of it will be what it looks like, because no one has ever painted it before. So because you'd be the first, you'd get to decide what it looks like and anyone else who has the idea after you would have to use your work as reference. And there's no way you could be claimed to be wrong!"

Yusuke considered this. "How astute of you, Akira!" he commended, "I had not considered that. So as the first, my conception would set a precedent for others… I suppose that is very true indeed."

Akira nodded. "Oh, the coffee's done." He took it over to the bar and Yusuke took a sip, then spat in surprise. "What is this? Such bitterness… I have never tasted coffee like this before! Is this perhaps a new flavor?"

Akira laughed. "It's experimental. Kind of like the bearded jelly dragon." He made a mental note to himself to never serve Sojiro coffee like that.

"Quite the experiment… but I think it is much too unpolished for my tastes," Yusuke said. "You can keep it. It may prove useful in the Metaverse." Akira agreed - he didn't find his very tasty either. So he took both their coffees and stored it away in the gallon sized thermos of coffee which they always carried with themselves in the Metaverse to reinvigorate their spirits.

"How have your dreams, been, Akira?" Yusuke wondered.

"Still restless," said Akira. "I thought the book was working for awhile, but all kinds of new problems keep popping up. It seems every waking day brings a new thing to worry about."

"It sounds like you worry too much," said Yusuke. "Perhaps you ought to spend more time relaxing on days like these."

"That could be, that could be," Akira responded, laughing a little. "Although when I try that, I often end up worrying that I'm not worrying enough."

Yusuke chuckled bemusedly. "That is exactly what I mean. Don't be so set on worrying!" He smiled and stood up. "This has been a very pleasant evening, Akira, but I must be going. Thank you very much for today."

Akira walked Yusuke to the station and saw him off, then headed back to Leblanc and crashed on his bed, tired out from all that had happened that day. Worrying too much? Perhaps Yusuke was right… but at the same time, he didn't know that he was in possession of a creepy, possibly self-aware book, there was some sort of supernatural threat trying to scramble his memories, and Akechi…

Akira was not really sure that telling the team about Akechi's dream visits was a good idea. To be perfectly honest with himself, he wasn't sure they would believe him… They had already reacted with confused skepticism when he'd tried to tell them about the Velvet Room.

* * *

 **8/4/2016 -**

"Makoto!" Akira called out. "Spending your school break at school, I see."

Makoto blushed. "Uh - yeah. I'm just keeping an eye out… and… studying."

Akira looked out at the alleyway in front of the gates - the place where he, Ryuji and Ann had entered Kamoshida's castle. And the place where he had kissed Makoto…

She caught his eye, and he quickly looked away from the alleyway. He was only pretending to be her boyfriend, so…

"I got your text. You need help with Eiko?"

She nodded. "We have to go to Shinjuku."

* * *

After confronting Tsukasa, Makoto and Akira fled to Crossroads to avoid attracting attention. They sat next to each other drinking tea, quiet and thoughtful. "I learned a lot from this…" Makoto sighed. "There's so much you can't find out just burying yourself in the pages of a book. Like this place… how did you find this place?"

"This was where we met the reporter," said Akira, "for dirt on Kaneshiro. After that, I started coming here to talk to her more about the Phantom Thieves. It's a nice meeting spot though… The owner is pretty nice. I work here some nights."

"You work at a bar some nights?!" Makoto was stunned. "You have so much experience, Akira…"

"Eh, I only started learning these past few months. Never did so much cool stuff back home…"

"I guess it came to you naturally."

"I guess. Wonder how though. It's as if I had practice that I can't remember…" Akira wondered about it for a minute. "Eh, let's not think about that."

"Anyway -" Makoto said, "We helped Eiko. Even when she told us off for it. We kept trying… it's just like we all talked about in Mementos, about helping people, even if they don't want it -"

"Yeah," said Akira. "We can't let people refuse to be saved."

Makoto nodded.

"Anyway… I was thinking… I think Eiko may have been right when she said I would flunk a test about love. There's so much I don't know… that I don't fully understand… I don't have a clue how one would study such a thing."

"It's okay," said Akira, "I can be your study partner." At these words, Makoto's face gained that bright red shade, from back then… "Akira - uh - do you -"

"I… I like you. You're smart. And interesting. There's so much we've taught each other. And you… you were so cute when you were following me."

Makoto blushed even more at the reminder of that. "I…" she was a little confused, but after a moment, she said timidly, "Thank you. Anyway. If you… really mean it - let's start dating for real. I look forward to, er, growing our relationship… together. And. And getting better at kissing."

Akira laughed. "You aren't that bad."

"Shut up! This is so embarrassing…" Makoto looked a bit overwhelmed. "So much happened today…"

"It's alright," said Akira kindly. "Shall we go?" Makoto nodded. "Okay," said Akira, "if it's alright with you… I have to meet someone else. A fortune teller."

"A fortune teller?"

"Yeah, her name's Chihaya. She ripped me off for a hundred thousand yen and when I returned to her demanding my money back, she challenged me to do a better job than she could. I did, and she was quite pissed, but now we're working together. She's actually really nice!" He stood up and put some money in the Crossroads tip jar. "Want to get your fortune read?"

"I'm… I'm a bit drained, but…" she thought for a minute. "Oh, well… alright. I've never had a fortune read before. Maybe it'll be fun."

* * *

"It looks like…" Chihaya was focusing intently. She turned over the last card in Makoto's reading, revealing… "The Lovers Arcana." She examined the cards carefully. "In the very near future, you will have to face a difficult decision involving someone very close to you…"

"Wha - is it Akira?" Makoto had been skeptical initially, but was now genuinely intrigued.

Chihaya thought for a second. "No - it's someone else, who you love very much, who has erred deeply, and who you would do anything for. It seems to be… your sister."

Makoto gasped. "My - my sister?!" She had not been expecting this. "You - how did you know -" her face was flushed with disbelief. "I - you - agh - have you been - how long have you known about me?!"

"I only met you today…" said Chihaya, puzzled by this reaction. "It's just what the cards said - are - are you alright?"

"I have to go," said Makoto. Akira stood up. "I'll take you home," he said kindly, but Makoto refused and pushed him away. "No, Akira - I'm fine. Please don't tell anyone else about this. I'll see you some other time…" She ran off to Shinjuku Station and disappeared into the crowd.

Chihaya looked at Akira with a concerned look on her face. "Is she alright?"

"I -" Akira was uncertain and confused. "I don't know. I think I should leave. Can we do another verification test some other time?" Chihaya nodded.

Akira rushed off to try and catch up with Makoto, but he didn't see her. She had vanished into the endless depths.

* * *

 **8/7/2016 -**

"Checkmate!" said Hifumi. "I have captured all your soldiers. Do you concede?"

Akira examined the board carefully. _Yeah, she got me… no point keeping this one up._ "I concede."

"Good." Hifumi beamed at him proudly. "You're getting better at taking losses in stride. Excellent job, Akira."

"But…" he began, "what if I tricked you?"

Hifumi was curious. "What?"

"What if I let you think you won… but I had an ace up my sleeve? Like…" he pulled out another piece. "That last king you captured was a decoy, and this guy - the real one - is now ready to retaliate."

"That… that's cheating!" Hifumi laughed. "Just accept it, Akira, you lost."

"Okay, yeah, you won," said Akira. "I'm not seriously doing that. This isn't even a real shogi piece." He stuck the counterfeit king back in his pocket. "But, isn't it an interesting strategy? Fake the enemy out, pretend to lose, and then fight back when they're least expecting it…"

"That's… intriguing," admitted Hifumi, "but why? The rules of the game wouldn't permit it. And besides, there are ways to make the enemy think they're about to win. Which is just as good as them thinking they've won for real, so - what would be the point?"

"To get back at someone who didn't play by the rules?" Akira suggested. "Like, your opponent cheated - so you outsmart them. And then they think they got you -" he made a finger gun and mimed firing it off. "Bang! But then they get hit from behind by the real you just as they're gloating over your corpse, celebrating their victory…"

"You know shogi isn't a duel to the death, right?" Hifumi said, simultaneously concerned and puzzled.

"But if it were…"

"Then… perhaps such a move would be justified." Hifumi looked a little introspective. "I could have done that…"

"When?"

"There was one person who used to cheat at shogi all the time," she said. "Nejima, I think his name was? It was several years ago… He was this older teenager who would always come by the park where I played, and challenge me to play a match. I would always gracefully accept… because I was lonely and had no one else to play with." Hifumi reflected quietly for a moment.

"Kind of like now, at least, before you come along… Except now everyone wants to play with me. Funny turn of fate, I guess." Hifumi giggled at the thought. "Anyway - No one else wanted to play with me because no one else at my school back then was very good at the game. Nejima wasn't much better, and I could have beaten him easily - but he would always trick me, and cheat. Then he would gloat about how he was 'the greatest at shogi ever.'"

Hifumi sighed. "It seems so silly now. No one took him seriously, so it wouldn't have been a big deal if I had just refused him and played alone, against myself. Or… I could have cheated too, and better than he. But I always felt cheating was above me. Even if I was facing an impossible opponent."

"It would have been some good cheating. To teach that guy a lesson. For justice." Akira told her with pleasant conviction in his voice.

"Justice?" Hifumi laughed. "Akira, you seem rather idealistic. And determined. I admire that about you… I wonder, are you facing such a cheater elsewhere in your life?"

"Well," said Akira, thinking about it. "I don't know. But I get the sense, in general, that someone is playing with me. That I'm a pawn in someone's game, and they're cheating so they can have their way." He smirked. "Seems ridiculous, huh?"

But Hifumi was truly captivated by the thought. "Who… like - someone powerful?"

"I haven't any idea," Akira said. "I don't know, it's just a strange feeling."

"Ah… well, anyway, how about we play another match?"

Akira knew he was going to lose again, but he graciously accepted.

* * *

"RUNNING HERE'S A BITCH!" Skull complained. "Mona! Turn into a car already!" Panther yelled urgently.

"I know, I know! I -" but Panther wasn't having any of his excuses. She picked up Mona by his fur, and, as she ran, hurled him into the sky where he transformed into the bus and landed at the foot of the pyramid.

As the cloud of dust started to hit their heels, the Phantom Thieves screamed and jumped out into the air. Mona opened up the back and they all dived in unceremoniously, and then the bus roared away from the collapsing palace. Queen, as excellent a getaway driver as always, dodged the rubble falling around them which as it cracked open dissolved into red and green bits of binary code.

Joker found himself in a rather uncomfortable position as they made their escape. He was pretty certain that his foot didn't belong there… as he pondered this, Queen swerved violently past a rather large piece of pyramid and Joker was violently hurled from the back and face first into Mona's windshield.

"Ouch…" he said.

"You think that hurt?!" said Mona, incredulously, "Think of me! Your face is pretty damn tough!"

As he was about to retaliate, the Palace world dissolved as they finally reached the exit, and Akira found himself back in the real world, completely and utterly disoriented and confuzzled.

* * *

 **8/10/2016 -**

Futaba had not yet recovered from her coma. Akira was not feeling too good about the situation, but there wasn't much else they could do. He checked his phone. Makoto had sent him a text asking if they could get together.

 **Akira:** Sure.  
 **Makoto:** Okay…  
 **Makoto:** I'll come to Leblanc.

Sojiro was at home with Futaba, so Akira had been left in charge of the store for the day. He was doing the dishes when Makoto arrived, drenched in sweat.

"… Hi."

"Are you alright? You look very sweaty."

"It's really hot outside," she said. "I'm fine." Akira turned to her and gave her a cup of coffee. "Thanks," she said appreciatively, and sipped it. "Akira, why does the coffee we use in the Metaverse taste so odd? It's as if you mixed a bunch of different coffees all together."

"That's exactly what I did, actually," Akira said. "I just pooled together all the leftover coffee in our thermos. We can't really carry like forty different containers around for forty cups of coffee."

"Really?" Makoto coughed. "That's disgusting… what if we get sick?"

"As long as we're not cognitive of it, it should be fine."

"I'm not sure it works like that… but never mind. Let's just not think about it," Makoto decided. "Is it alright if we go up to your room?"

"Sure," Akira said. He washed his hands and hung up his apron, then approached the stairs to the attic. "After you," he said, gesturing for Makoto to go on. She blushed and awkwardly made her way up the steps.

* * *

Makoto sat down with Akira and they talked for a long time about a lot of things - Eiko, studying, Makoto's father, her ambition to become a police commissioner - before their conversation arrived at yesterday's events. "So," said Akira, "your driving skills in the Palace - that was crazy."

She nodded. "I was so afraid we weren't going to make it…"

"Well, we did. You got us out alive, and we changed Futaba's heart. I couldn't be happier with how things worked out. Although that was quite a bumpy ride…"

"Ah, yes," Makoto agreed, "I do recall how you somehow managed to faceplant yourself into the windshield." They laughed.

Akira kissed her and they sat together silently for a while…

"I was wondering…" Makoto began slowly. "What was my dream about?"

"What dream?"

"The dream you had about me… you said you'd been having dreams about everyone. I wondered what mine was."

This inquiry surprised Akira greatly. "You said before you weren't inter -" but Makoto raised her finger to his lips and he silenced himself abruptly. "Forget that! I just wasn't in the mood to hear it, that's all… but I'm interested now!" She stared out the window, and a pensive look swept her face. "I'm interested now, because… I started having dreams too."

"About me?"

"No! Okay, well, some, yes, but not just about you…" she swallowed, appearing to be at a loss for words. "My sister." she said, and Akira opened his eyes and looked at her in surprise. "Your sister, the prosecutor?" Makoto nodded. "My sister hasn't been herself for a long, long time…" She began to cry. "My sister… my sister has a Palace…"

"Oh - So when Ryuji asked you whose heart you would want to change - and Chihaya's fortune yesterday -"

Her expression all but confirmed it.

"Do you want to tell the others? We could help… change her -"

"No! I - I don't -" Makoto buried her face in Akira's chest, and her tears found their way onto his arms. "It's… it's difficult for me to imagine - And I…" she sobbed quietly.

"I understand," Akira said kindly. "I won't tell a soul."

After a moment, she looked up again at him, her face wet from crying, and she cracked a small, appreciative smile. "Thank you…"

* * *

 _ **ELSEWHERE IN THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY -**_

 _ **?/?/20XX**_

 _ **Niijima Sae: What? Sakura's daughter hung herself?! But - but - That's a lie!**_

 _ **Kurusu Akira is stupefied and unresponsive.**_

 _ **Kurusu Akira: The… no… the tomb…  
** **Niijima Sae: WHAT ARE YOU GIBBERING ABOUT?!  
** Niijima Sae: PLEASE! Don't stop your story here! I need to know the truth! I need to… I need to win…_

 _ **Kurusu Akira opens his eyes a little, and looks up at Niijima Sae.**_

 _ **Niijima Sae: Well… it… in any case… it seems it'd be a waste of time to speak to you any further.**_

 _ **Niijima Sae stands up and turns her back on the suspect.**_

 _Kurusu Akira speaks again, with weak panic in his voice…_  
 _ **Kurusu Akira: No… Niijima… don't go… please… you have to listen to me… your sister…  
** Niijima Sae: DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT MY SISTER!_

 _ **The door to the interrogation room slams shut behind Niijima Sae.**_

 _ **…**_

 _ **…**_

 _ **…**_

 _ **Mysterious Man: Allow me to enlighten you…**_

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (published on AO3 5/25/2017):** _ I figured it would be more exciting if I changed up the circumstances of the dream a bit. I imagined how funny it would be if one of the party feel asleep on that long drive through Futaba's desert and so everything just blended together in my mind.

More character stuff! I almost wrote a close to word-for-word account of the event in the game when Ryuji, Akira and Kawakami go fishing, because I really loved that scene, but there wasn't really anything useful to be found in including that so I replaced it with Hifumi. Also did a bit of trimming on adapting Priestess rank 9 and 10. Mostly so that I didn't waste hundreds of words repeating all the stuff Makoto said about her dream and whatnot. I was more focused on writing up ties between the romance and the main story. For Chihaya's tarot readings in the last two chapters I did a bit of research on the SMT wiki about the meaning of the Arcana.

In case anyone's wondering, I romanced Kawakami on my first playthrough, but everyone kept saying Makoto was best so I picked Makoto on NG+. I wrote a really gratuitous reference to this where Akira says he used to date someone "older," but it sounded really stupid and awkward. so I cut it out.

On a sidenote, I read what's been translated online of the P5 anthology manga so far and it's absolutely hilarious. I've been thinking about taking a bit of inspiration from it. I know I said my original goal in writing this was just to write out the bad endings and explore what Akira thought of them, and I guess I've kind of strayed from that goal a bit, but whatever. All this other stuff came out of it and it's just really fun.

Really happy with this chapter for the most part. My motivation was a little bit diminished today, but I pushed through it and did my best. Music really helps. Next chapter I'll try and pick up on more of the arcs I've left hanging - Akechi will show up again for sure, and I'll probably also write something about the team and Haru now that Futaba's Palace is cleared and they can come back to the idea they had in that Mementos chat. Anyway, if you'd like to tell me that this is great, pretty good, mediocre, or that I'm a terrible writer, feel free to make whatever comments you like and thank you for reading!


	9. Beauty Thief Remixed Part One

_**Original Opening Note (published on AO3 5/26/2017):**_ More plot development! Making Haru's intro better! And having fun writing. I'm basically rewriting every single Haru scene and I love it. I was going to make this a single chapter culminating in the bad ending dream regarding Haru, but it got so big that I decided to split it into two. Hope it's cool and stuff!

* * *

Today was 8/15/2016. Akira had today decided to meet Makoto in Book Town. She was waiting for him, and looked rather eager. "Hello, Akira," she said, smiling and greeting him with a swift kiss. "I've been looking up information on cognitive psience lately. I haven't discovered anything online, but it occurred to me that perhaps we would find a mention of it in an older journal article, or something similar…"

"Let's look around thoroughly," Akira said. Makoto nodded in agreement. "Yes, I do hope we find something. Shall we get started?" Akira signaled his assent, but as they turned to enter the store, they were happened upon by Hifumi, of all people. "Oh - Hello." She looked at Akira, then Makoto, and, seeming to (correctly) assume their relationship, she became flustered.

"Um… goodbye."

"Wait!" Makoto said, "Was there something you wanted to say to him?"

"Oh, um, no. I was just surprised to see him," Hifumi said slowly. "I didn't mean to intrude between the two of you…"

"Oh, he's just carrying my books for me," said Makoto. Akira was surprised by this. "Uh, I'm -" but she punched him in the elbow. "Ouch."

"Is she a friend of yours?"

"Uh, yeah. She's my shogi master." Akira said, proudly. Hifumi looked baffled. "'Shogi master?' That's a bit much. We just play together."

"Yes, but you always win!"

"Oh, is she the professional 'master strategist' shogi player you mentioned?" Makoto wondered, intrigued.

"Uh, yes…" Hifumi held out her hand. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Togo Hifumi."

"Niijima Makoto," Makoto said, shaking Hifumi's hand. "The pleasure is mine, Togo-san - is that a book on shogi tactics?"

"Oh, yes, I come here to purchase old strategy guides from time to time," Hifumi explained.

"I see…" said Makoto, "I wonder - do excuse me if this is an odd request - but could you teach me some strategies? I believe I could benefit greatly from the knowledge."

"Oh, sure!" said Hifumi. "Well, if it's about shogi…" she began explaining. "To mount an attack, you need to approach the situation creatively, and sacrifice your pieces without remorse."

"I see," said Makoto, intrigued, "plan on enticing your opponent to focus on your sacrifices, then while they are distracted, advance the counter attack?"

Hifumi nodded, evidently very pleased. "You seem to have a natural talent for this." She and Makoto continued talking for awhile, as Akira stood by, watching them. He was quite interested, but he really wanted to get on with what he and Makoto had come here for. "You seem to be getting along," he said.

"Oh, sorry," Makoto said. "What Togo-san was saying was so interesting to me, that I lost track of time. I'll catch up with you later. Could you go look for the book we talked about?" Akira nodded. He was all too happy to see his girlfriend and his shogi master made good foils for one another. He let Hifumi and Makoto be, and entered the bookstore.

"Do you have any old academic journals on psychology or other related subjects?" he asked the store manager. "Ah yes," the elder woman said, "I believe they're in the back a bit, among the newspapers." Akira gave his thanks and followed her directions to the specified area.

He flipped through them - some stuff on science experiments, Jungian psychology, magic… tarot readings? Arcana? The same method Chihaya used… he decided to hold onto that one.

While Akira found no research on cognitive psience specifically, he did find some research about "shadows" conducted roughly two decades ago by a company called the Kirijo Group. It sounded eerily similar to what they were facing in the Metaverse, but he wasn't sure it would help them too much. Nonetheless, he decided it would be worth buying, in case it proved useful somehow.

He also found some documents on time travel, lucid dreaming, and - a foggy world inside a TV? Who was writing this stuff? "Satonaka Chie…" hadn't he heard that name before? Satonaka was some small-time big-crime police officer or something. "A new supernatural mystery novel…" Oh, this was fiction. Alright. Could be interesting. He decided to take it as well.

"You're buying a lot of books," Morgana commented. "Did you check out that big blue one?"

"Big blue one?" Akira murmured, puzzled. He looked about, and spotted the book Morgana was talking about. It was entitled... "How to Conquer Demons? What a bland title."

"It seems useful though…" Morgana said. "What makes you say that?" Akira asked.

"It just… I don't know. It just seems helpful somehow. Like that other one you had about dreaming."

 _The other one?_ It had his attention now. Akira opened the book and flipped through it - and he saw some rather vague words.

 _An unholy demon must be conquered with the following methods. One must either: **a) travel back in time,** to where the demon will not be able to access and corrupt their spirit, **b) evolve their spirit,** to the point that the demon will not be able to corrupt it any further without adapting their skills, or **c) get more sleep.**_

"Get more sleep?" That was pretty cheeky.

Was this another sentient book? … Akira decided to buy this as well. Perhaps it would lend further clues to this whole mystery, or at the very least, tell him something useful. With that, he made his purchases and headed back outside.

Makoto and Hifumi were eating takoyaki from a nearby food stand together and talking amongst themselves cheerily as though they had known each other for years. Akira was quite delighted. "Hey there!" he said. "Oh," Makoto was surprised, "neither of us expected you to be done so soon. Did you find anything?"

"Plenty," said Akira, "but nothing that I think will be too useful. Sorry."

"Oh, it's alright," said Makoto, noticing the mystery novel. "'The Culprit of Inaba…' oh! I've heard of this! It's based on an urban legend that some have used to explain a series of mysterious homicide cases reported in some small town - this is written by a former resident of the place. I've been meaning to read this… !"

* * *

It was now 8/16/2016, and the Phantom Thieves had decided to meet at Leblanc to discuss strategy. "Well," said Ryuji, "now that we took care of Futaba's Palace… what do we do now that she's like, in a coma and stuff?!"

"There's not much we can do," said Makoto. "We were at our wits' end trying to find a way to deal with Medjed before. Futaba is literally the only way we can get back at them." Akira nodded to signal his assent. "Yeah, we can't really do anything about it without her. We should try to do something else in the meantime."

"Well," said Morgana, "Mishima sent us a few requests to clear out." Morgana rattled off the names and their crimes - Shinsuke Kishi, Taizo Naguri, and Kazuo Tsuboi. "We can take care of those in Mementos."

"True…" said Ryuji, "but like, wasn't there something else we were thinkin' of? I just don't remember for sure what it was -"

"Haru!" Ann recalled. "The girl from the fireworks festival who Akira spoke to about her father."

"Ah, that is correct," Yusuke said. "It is quite possible that she may benefit if her father or someone else affecting the situation she is in has a change of heart. Makoto, given your position as student council president, do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Hmm…" Makoto wondered, "well… she's the one who does gardening, right? Perhaps if we search for her…"

"At Shujin?" Ryuji suggested.

"No, there's no reason for her to be there during summer break. Perhaps… well, it would stand to reason that she likes plants. A garden, or someplace else with plant life. A public greenhouse, perhaps."

"Do we know of such a place?" Akira wondered.

Ryuji pulled out his phone and did a search. "The Yumenoshima Tropical Plant Dome…"

"That's too far away," said Makoto.

"Yeah, if her father is as controlling as we've been led to believe, it's highly unlikely Haru would be there." agreed Akira. "Let's try and stick to close by."

"Okay!" said Ann cheerfully. "How about Inokashira Park? There are plants there!"

"That's like, a place you go with other people!" said Ryuji. "She's supposed to not have any friends!"

Akira was pretty frustrated. "Come on, guys, we're just guessing at this point…"

"Is this really a good idea?" asked Morgana. Everyone turned to him in surprise. "We don't even know where this girl is. I agree we should investigate the situation, but should we really attempt this now? We should do what we can first before attempting to take on a new case without any leads."

"Hmm," Ann wondered, "I suppose that may be true."

"You're right," Akira conceded. "There's nothing we can do about it right now. Let's just go to Mementos."

* * *

But as it turned out, the team happened upon Haru at Shibuya Station, of all places. She was with some guy with an eyesore of an outfit - a purple suit and white shirt. She didn't look very happy about it.

"Whoa," said Ryuji, "ain't that her?"

Everyone glanced in the direction he had indicated. "It seems so…" Makoto said.

"Yep, that's Haru all right." said Akira. "But she's with someone. We probably shouldn't do anything right now."

Haru and the purple-suited man argued for a few minutes, and then the man, after a few moments, walked away looking rather angry. He walked towards the station entrance. "He's coming our way!" warned Akira. "Act natural, everyone!" They all adopted nonchalant positions.

Haru sat down on a nearby bench, looking distraught and not noticing Akira and the team. The purple-suited man, meanwhile, did observe them, and he was not fooled. "Hey, you brats!" the man said, walking over to them. "What are you looking at? Get lost." He shoved past them and descended into the subway.

"What an asshole!" Ryuji said furiously. "We didn't do nothin' to him!"

"Never mind him," said Akira. "He's gone now. We can talk to Haru. It didn't seem she liked him very much."

"Do you suppose that was that her father?" asked Yusuke.

"Nah," said Ann, "he looked too young. Probably a servant or something."

"Servant… ?" Makoto wondered in awe. "What makes you think that?"

"Her family is clearly wealthy enough to afford an escort," Ann reasoned, "and that man was very well-dressed."

"Well, except he had that stupid purple outfit," Ryuji pointed out. "I ain't never seen a servant wearing somethin' like that."

"Well, let's try asking about him then," suggested Yusuke.

"Good idea," Akira said, "let's go to her then."

"Wait!" said Makoto, "it should only be one of us. Considering the situation…" she carefully evaluated everything in her head. "It should only be one of us. She may get apprehensive otherwise. And I think it should be me."

"Why's that?" asked Morgana. Akira nodded. "My thoughts exactly. What makes you think any of us can't do it?"

"Well," Makoto began, "Akira, you already talked to her before - she'll be immediately on guard if you go. Ann, you won't fool her for a minute. Ryuji has no sense of subtlety, Yusuke will make her uncomfortable, and I - well, I'm the most diplomatic. And we are talking to someone from an apparently wealthy family. She could be royalty for all we know. I think I have the best chance of persuading her to talk."

At the comments, Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke, were all instantly defensive. An uproar of excuses arose.

"I resent these condemnations!"  
"Hey! I'm not that bad an actress!"  
"Come on! I just - haven't had practice!"

"Guys, stop," said Akira. "If Haru notices us bickering, we're screwed. Makoto's right - she's the best person to handle this." He nodded his approval. "Go on, Queen. Everyone else, go find someplace to blend in nearby, monitor the situation, and act completely uninterested. Keep communication in the chat."

Everyone begrudgingly agreed.

* * *

"Excuse me," said Makoto, "but that man looked sketchy. He seemed to be bothering you… Are you alright?"

Haru, still looking dejected, stood up from the bench and looked at Makoto. "Uh - oh, hello. Um - no. I'm fine. We go to the same school, don't we? I believe I recognize you."

 _Okay,_ thought Akira, _good start. Not straightaway admitting to anything, but she's not telling you to go away. Keep this up, Makoto._

"Shujin, correct?" Makoto asked. Haru nodded in confirmation.

"You… you're the student council president."

"Yes…" Makoto was suddenly uneasy.

"Why are you sticking your nose into my business?"

Akira wasn't too sure of this anymore. _Okay, maybe not so good._

Makoto had clearly not anticipated such a reply. "I - I'm - sorry… I was simply concerned…"

"Please, don't be," said Haru, "everything's just fine. That man is a wonderful person. He's never done anything to hurt me and I am certain he never will. We simply had a disagreement over a trivial matter." But her acclaim sounded very suspiciously forced and telegraphed. Akira was personally unconvinced.

"Oh…" Makoto said, slowly. "I… I apologize for insulting him." She bowed her head gently.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"Uh -" Makoto was confused for a second. "Um, yes. Some friends of mine - other Shujin students - are having a party tomorrow. May we invite you? We've been looking for… other people…"

 _Oh god…_ Akira thought. His phone buzzed.

 **Ryuji:** A party?! That's the best she could come up with?  
 **Akira:** Hey, it's not like any of us could have had better ideas. At least she's still trying.

"Uh - I don't go to parties - " Haru began, but then suddenly stopped, seeming to come to a realization.

"I remember you! I've seen you -"

"You already said, yes." Makoto was confused by this sudden statement.

"You… you were at the fireworks festival… with that blonde girl… and that boy… Akira…" Haru gasped. "You know Akira… !"

Akira's phone buzzed again.

 **Ann:** Oh no! She put two and two together… no good!

Makoto was panicked. There was no salvaging the conversation now.

"He put you up to this, didn't he?" she continued.

Makoto was utterly speechless.

"He's here right now, isn't he?!" Haru looked over at Akira at his position by the entrance, then noticed Ann and Ryuji near the trashcan. "Call them over here! I want to talk to all of you!"

Makoto's face fell in disappointment, and she signaled for everyone to rejoin her. Akira and everyone else came over.

Haru's face was a mix of anger, sadness, and confusion. "Why are you still pursuing this, Akira? Who are all these people?! What is your intention?!"

Akira was stunned. "I - these are my friends." He said. "You told me you had a bad situation with your father - I can't just let that be! We only want to talk to you!"

"I told you to leave me alone!" Haru cried. "It's for your own good! My father is a very rich and powerful man. You could get in serious trouble if he finds out about this intrusion into our private affairs!" She was even more distraught than before.

"Akira - again, I am truly, truly sorry - but I can't speak with you or your friends. I don't want to do this, but I'm afraid that if I find you prying again I'll have to alert our security. I don't want to bring more trouble upon myself or anyone else." She rubbed tears from her eyes. "Please don't take it personally - you all seem like very lovely people. I'd hate for anything bad to happen to you. I must go now."

Haru curtsied politely. "Thank you for your concern - all of you - I am truly grateful, but there is nothing you can do. I hope to never associate with any of you again." She turned and ran away into Shibuya Station.

"That was pretty useless," Ryuji remarked. "What should we try now?"

"I could search the student records at Shujin for information, but we can't pursue that while the school is closed." said Makoto. "It's best that we let this be for the time being."

"That sounds like a good plan," said Akira. "Alright, then. When break is over, at the next opportunity, let's search the records for information about Haru. In the meantime, let's go to Mementos as we planned for today."

"Very well," said Yusuke. "Then let us depart."

* * *

"You want anything, Futaba?"

It was 8/28/2016. Futaba had now awakened from her coma and defeated the false Medjed in a single afternoon of keyboard tapping. Akira had felt extremely elated at the news, and so had the rest of the team. The Phantom Thieves had triumphed again, and their popularity was soaring through the roof.

Akira was behind the counter, helping Sojiro, and Futaba was squatting atop a chair in front of the bar. "Orange juice!" she requested. "One hundred percent natural." Sojiro smiled at Futaba. Seeing his adoptive daughter finally out of the house had initially surprised him, but ultimately made him perhaps the happiest Akira had ever seen him. Akira was very glad that they had succeeded in stealing her heart.

"That reminds me," said Sojiro, "you're going to the beach tomorrow, yeah?" Akira nodded. Sojiro looked very pleased. "Go have fun, and make up for the fireworks. Just try not to cut loose too much."

"Fireworks?" Futaba inquired.

"Oh yeah, you wouldn't know. He went to a fireworks festival, but it was rained out partway through." Sojiro laughed. "Not only did he get crushed in the crowd, but he came home looking like some kinda drowned rat."

"Yeah," said Akira, "it was a pretty bad time. But I made it out alive." He grinned.

"Fireworks, huh," mused Futaba.

The bell rang, and Leblanc's door opened. Immediately, Futaba got up from her chair and hid behind Akira, who looked over at the door to see a familiar looking brown-haired boy wearing a sweater and carrying a suitcase. "Hello."

 _You!_

"Welcome," said Sojiro simply.

"Oh! You're…" said Akechi, feigning surprise at seeing Akira. _Oh, yeah, I am. You don't have to act so surprised…_

"Huh? You know each other? Wait a second…" Sojiro recognized Akechi. "I've seen you before!"

"I'm Akechi." said Akechi.

 _Cool story._ Akira was not pleased. This was an even worse intrusion than in his dreams, and a situation in which he held even less power. It was an invasion of his territory. _You've breached the walls of my kingdom… Hifumi would probably put it something like that._

"Oh yeah, the one on TV and stuff. So what brings you here, Mr. Detective?"

"This place is more than I imagined it to be. The atmosphere is wonderful. No wonder Sae-san recommended it so strongly to me." Sojiro was shocked at the mention of "Sae-san."

"I already told her everything I know," he said, anger seeping into his voice. "There's nothing more I got for you people."

"Oh no," Akechi sounded apologetic. "That's not my intention. I just came to enjoy some coffee."

 _Like hell you did._ Akira balled his hands into fists inside the apron pockets. _You're deliberately antagonizing me, practically intruding in my home, and disturbing my family._

"Oh," said Sojiro. He was no longer hostile to Akechi, but his anxiety was still present. "What'll it be then?"

"And she is…" Akechi said, turning to Futaba, who was still hiding behind Akira. "Oh, you must be Wakaba Isshiki's…"

"What'll it be?" said Sojiro, more forcefully this time. Akechi gave his attention to the question this time. "I'll have whatever you recommend."

"Coming right up."

Within minutes, Akechi was served a fresh cup of Sojiro's coffee. "It seems I'm unwelcome no matter where I go." he lamented.

"That's surprising," Akira replied, a carefully controlled hint of sarcasm in his voice. Akechi was suddenly quiet - and his next action surprised Akira.

"... Did I bother you? My apologies." He sounded genuinely regretful. Akira was confused by his shift in attitude. _You're not acting fake anymore… I don't know if I like this._

"Apparently, my mother was in a relationship with some low-life of a man. She was swiftly discarded when he learned she was pregnant, and the ensuing despair lead to her death." He shook his head sorrowfully. "Thanks to him, I was passed from foster home to foster home - but, I do quite well by myself these days."

Futaba was well aware by now of Akechi's negative position towards the Phantom Thieves… but she appeared to pity him. Akira couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him himself.

 _Please, don't get me wrong, Akechi. We are still enemies… you'd do well to remember that while you remain here._

Akechi seemed to remember this, and dropped his mournful demeanor. "Ah yes, Medjed. To think they'd be taken down by another hacker. I'm not sure whether they were defeated by the Phantom Thieves themselves, or an avid supporter…" He took a sip of coffee, then turned to Futaba.

"Uh, you're Futaba-chan, right? Sae-san told me about you. Many kids your age seem to be fans of the Phantom Thieves… Do you like them too?"

Futaba was hesitant. She sensed the quiet tension between Akira and Akechi, and reacted to it accordingly. "You're popular too, Ace Detective Akechi." she snapped, and Akechi chuckled. "Thank you. Although I'd prefer to not be compared to people like the Phantom Thieves, if at all possible."

Akechi took another sip of coffee. "Ah, this is delicious! You drink this coffee every day? I'm incredibly jealous." He smiled at Akira kindly… yet, it didn't seem fake, like it had previously. He seemed genuine and caring. Akira was confused.

 _You're trying to mess with me, Akechi… I won't let you gain my trust._

But then Akira remembered what Hifumi said - to let the enemy think they're winning. So he put on the kindest, most genuine smile he could muster, and said, "I think so too. You're a very intriguing person." Akechi laughed lightly, pleased at having apparently been accepted.

"Thank you. I believe that fate brings people together. It's strange, but talking to you is thought-provoking." Akechi stood up and gathered his belongings. "I think I found my go-to cafe."

With that, Akechi stood up and left Leblanc.

Akira still couldn't say he liked Akechi, or was willing to call him a friend - but he was almost disappointed to see him go.

* * *

"Are you really sure that the flash drive you gave to Makoto will work?" Akira asked Futaba. They were chilling out back in his room at Leblanc after the Phantom Thieves team meeting.

"Positive!" she said, confidently. "I've used many iterations of that code dozens of times to copy Sojiro's files."

"You WHAT?"

"Whaaat? I needed an easy and efficient way to do it!"

"I see…" said Akira. "Alright, well, I can't doubt your skills. Let's just hope Makoto doesn't get caught doing it."

"It'll be fine!"

 _Hopefully._ Akira was still very nervous about the whole "house arrest" possibility for Makoto if they were found out. Getting caught was one thing, but it was as Makoto had said - her being saved, while the rest of them suffered criminal punishment and she watched, protected by her sister, was another thing entirely…

That reminded him of something. "Futaba, do you know anything about lucid dreaming?"

"I know what it is," she said. "I haven't experienced it, and I don't really know exactly how it works. I haven't had a lot of dreams for years. Too many sleepless nights. Why do you ask?"

"Well…" he explained the whole thing, sans Futaba's suicide, Akechi, the Velvet Room, and the book being sentient. Futaba was fascinated. "Whoa! Sounds like a pretty OP book. But like… whoa… did you have a dream about me at any point?"

"Er…" said Akira. "I could tell you, but I don't think you'd like it."

"Why's that?"

 _Should I tell her?_

"Well…" he was slow - "if you really want to hear it… Uh - you hung yourself. And then repeatedly stabbed holes in yourself with scissors as you simultaneously suffocated and bled to death."

Futaba's face fell. "Oh…"

"I know… it's pretty horrible." Akira sounded apologetic. "I was scared for you. I couldn't imagine what would happen if we failed to save you… sorry."

"No, no," said Futaba, "it's alright. It's just… surprising. Cause that sounds like just about exactly what I would have done… had you… failed." She was very quiet, reflecting upon the past. "In fact… I had it all planned out. That was exactly what I was going to do…"

Akira was shocked. "Are you… you, serious?" She nodded. "I did all the math and drew a diagram of how it would have gone down. I was going to do it, too, even though I knew from deep within my heart that it was wrong. But I couldn't fight to save myself…" She breathed slowly. "And then I heard about the Phantom Thieves, and I thought… well, you know. I told you at the beach and everything."

Akira nodded, silently acknowledging her words. He was truly stunned. This was the second time someone had vouched for the accuracy of his dreams. First Makoto, now Futaba. What was happening? Did this have something to do with the evil entity?

He still had no idea how to force it out…

* * *

Ann and Makoto had gone to a convenience store to get sunblock. Ryuji, Yusuke and Akira had been walking about finding out what the denizens of Hawaii knew about the Phantom Thieves. All of a sudden… they saw a familiar poofy-haired person. "Hey," said Ryuji, "isn't that the girl we were trying to help?"

Akira confirmed it. "Haru. Should we try to talk to her again? She did say she would call her security detail if we attempted to approach her again."

"We're in Hawaii, on a school trip!" said Ryuji. "It's not like she can call her security dudes here! Plus, I don't think she really meant that."

"It may be worthwhile to attempt another conversation with her," Yusuke agreed. "Besides, I don't see any more people to ask about the Phantom Thieves. I'd say this is the most productive way we can spend this time while we wait for Ann and Makoto."

Akira shrugged. "Whatever. Let's do it."

The three of them walked over to Haru, who instantly reacted negatively to their presence. "You again?!" she exclaimed. "I thought I told you… oh right. You go to the same school, we can't really avoid each other," she reasoned. "Oh well. If this is about my father again, I'll scream!"

"Uh -" said Ryuji, but Akira quickly cut him off. "No, Haru, this isn't about your father. We just want to chat. What are you doing here?"

"Oh - uh -" Haru was uncertain how to reply. "I was asked to chaperone this trip as a third-year - but I wasn't sure how to spend my free time. So, I'm just sitting here, I guess…" She looked embarrassed. "Are you sure you aren't just trying to gain my trust? I told you before, there isn't anything you can do!"

Haru looked very regretful. "I'm - I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. Free time is almost up - shouldn't you be going back soon?" As Haru stood up and left, Makoto and Ann came back.

"Was that…" Makoto wondered, and Akira confirmed.

"Haru's a chaperone… I see. Did you get anything out of her?"

"Nothing useful." said Yusuke. "She essentially told us to leave her alone again."

"Figures," said Ann. "Hey, Makoto, when were we going to check the records?"

"As soon as we get back," Makoto promised. "There's been quite a lot going on - I'm sorry we hadn't got to it sooner."

"There's a lot we don't know about Haru," Ryuji mused. "She didn't even tell us her family name… I wonder why's that?"

"There must be something about her she doesn't want to advertise." said Akira. "She did say her father was a very wealthy and powerful man - perhaps her family name would draw attention to herself."

"That must be it…" Makoto agreed. "Well, we had best head back. We can check on all this when we return home."

* * *

It was 9/13/2016, and Okumura Haru was out late, tired and lonely. She had just run away from her fiance and was wandering the streets of a residential area in Yongen-Jaya by herself. She wasn't really sure what she was going to do - perhaps a 1-UP from the vending machines would help calm her nerves.

Haru felt powerless, lost, confused… above all, angry, angry at her father and her horrid fiance… but she suppressed that anger. A girl was not supposed to get angry. She was supposed to be quiet, to be ladylike, and to do as she was told. Why?

She heard a cat meowing close by. Ignoring it at first, she simply kept walking - but the sounds of the cat grew closer and closer by the minute, and then it ran away, right as the two crossed paths underneath a streetlight.

"That kitty…"

She had seen it before… in someone's bag.

That's right. It belonged to that boy who had been poking into her business - Kurusu Akira.

Haru turned and chased after it.

* * *

Morgana was gone…

Akira was lonely. Akira missed Morgana. Akira was also pissed off at Ryuji, for making Morgana angry. Why did he have to go and insult him so much?

Akira wondered where Morgana had gone. He hoped he was okay…

* * *

Haru had followed the cat all the way to her father's corporate headquarters. She had been trying to catch it so that she could return it to Akira, but it was rather fast and would not permit itself to be caught. Having no other purpose at the time, Haru had remained determined to catch it - but ultimately failed.

The cat stopped, and she heard it meowing something. As it did so, she leaped out to grab it, and succeeded - but then there was an odd red fuzz in the air, and the world around seemed to melt…

Her father's headquarters took on the appearance of a strange sci-fi scene, and the cat became a bizarre looking cartoon-like creature with a neckerchief and a disproportionately large head. "Ah!"

The creature spun around in Haru's arms. "Gah! Who are you? Where did you come from?!" It leaped up and away from her, and on top of one of those funny… computer things.

"I - I don't know how I got here!" she said. The catlike creature looked at her. "Oh - it's - it's you… Haru…"

"What am I doing here?! What is this place? How do I get out?" Haru was quite possibly the most freaked out she had ever been in her life.

"My name is Morgana. I'm Akira's cat… or, I used to be. This is what I look like in this world." Morgana walked up close to her. "Stay behind me - I'll protect you! I'll explain everything to you as soon as we make it to a safe place."

* * *

And so, in the safe room, Morgana - Mona, as he was known by his code name - explained to Haru the basics of the Metaverse.

"So this is my father's world… uh, 'Palace…'" she said, "and by stealing his 'Treasure…' We can make him change?"

"Well, _I_ can make him change," said Morgana. "You don't have a Persona, so you can't do much."

"I see…" Haru more or less understood. She wasn't sure if this was a dream, or some sort of hallucination, but she decided it didn't matter for the time being. "Alright. What are you going to do now?"

"This isn't a safe place for you," Morgana told her. "We have to leave - now!"

"You're… you're one of the Phantom Thieves, aren't you?"

Morgana stopped and looked at her with a tinge of regret in his large eyes - but then it reverted to a disheartened resentment. "I… I was…"

"I see…" Haru was confident now - this was no dream.

"It doesn't matter," said Morgana, "we need to go!"

With that, they left the safe room and ran. And ran and ran and ran.

Haru's father's Palace was huge, and the topography quickly baffled her. The strange other world seemed unbound by physics and reason, and she could hardly wrap her mind around it.

"Mona-chan!" she called out. "Are you sure you know where the exit is?"

"Pretty sure…" said Mona. "I… I got in here after all."

"INTRUDERS! HALT! DO NOT MOVE!" called out a bunch of robotic voices.

"Oh no! Shadows!" shouted Mona. "Haru, take cover!"

Three strange looking robots entered the area, and transformed into a myriad of bizarre monsters. "PERSONA!" Mona yelled, summoning a large man-like mirage thing holding a rapier. "Zorro, show your might!"

The monsters dodged the attacks, and they soon retaliated and overwhelmed Mona. He was weakened and unceremoniously knocked upon the ground. As the Shadows all surrounded him, Mona groaned. "I really messed up…"

They transformed back into robots. "SHALL WE DISPOSE OF IT?" one of them said mechanically. "LEAVE IT BE," responded another. "WE DO NOT HAVE TIME TO WASTE ON A SOLITARY FELINE."

Mona was dejected and Dizzy as the Shadows walked away. "Is this really… impossible… alone…" He looked up at Haru, apparently forgetting who she was in the midst of his Dizziness. "Who's there…" he murmured deliriously, "Mas… ter?"

Haru felt sorry for Mona. She hadn't known him long, but it hurt her to see him like this. "How horrible…"

And then, Haru heard a faint, indistinct voice in her head… something was coming to her… something from deep within her heart… And then, there was a small flash of blue. Something was on her face.

Haru tapped at it gently, carefully… "What is this? Why is it stuck to my face?!" She tugged at it gently, then, pulled further, further - It was like picking at a very large, hard scab. She would have normally felt that this was a bad idea, but it somehow felt intuitive…

And then she yanked it away, and screamed. Blood spilled out from her face, and splattered the floor. Haru shrieked, terrified, but felt her face and instead of feeling the exposed raw flesh that was expected… she felt something different… something fresh…

And then an axe materialized in her hand. Haru felt… good. She felt terrific, energized, and… lethal. Dangerous.

She turned to the enemies that had knocked out her new friend, a most delighted, sadistic look of pure adrenaline in her eyes. She grinned, somewhat evilly and threw her axe at one of the robots. _**"You'll pay for hurting Mona-chan!"**_ Haru yelled, cackling like a witch.

The robots turned around, and transformed back into the bizarre creatures - a star shape with a single eye, and some sort of strange idol-like thing. They attacked Haru, but she jumped out of the way, grabbed her axe - and promptly laid the two Shadows to ruin.

Feeling invigorated, she turned to Mona and called out, "Persona - **BEHOLD!** " Tearing off her mask once more, her Persona materialized and recovered Mona's fatigue.

Having been relieved of his Dizzy Ailment, Mona stood up and looked at Haru in awe.

"You… You can summon a Persona! You saved me - Beauty Thief!"

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (Published on AO3 5/26/2017):**_ Okay, so, you all remember what Morgana was saying about how Haru's Persona was inferior, not well-developed and all that? Before she had her true awakening. That was basically her first awakening. I'd been wondering quite a bit what had happened with that and how exactly Haru followed Morgana into her dad's Palace. Anyhoo, questions answered, there you go! That scene was just infectiously fun to write, seriously. Especially the lethal part.


	10. Beauty Thief Remixed Part 2, 10-11-20XX

_**Original Opening Note (Published on AO3 5/27/2017):**_ Okay, so, we all know what's up. Rewriting Haru! There are a lot of familiar scenes here, but plenty of fresh dialogue. Then Haru's bad ending, which, since the associated cutscene from the game tells us almost totally nothing about her fate, I just made up some shit. Hopefully pretty good shit. Enjoy!

* * *

"Holy crap, this place is huge!" Ryuji observed. "Well, obviously, dude!" Akira said.

"Yes - it is the headquarters of a large corporation, after all." pointed out Yusuke. Futaba nodded. "Getting into the real building is almost certainly impossible."

Ryuji was enthused about proving Okumura's guilt, but Futaba was quick to point out that they were there for Morgana, and Morgana only. "You found the Palace keywords, right, Futaba?"

"Yep yep," she said, "the corporate HQ is 'outer space!'"

"The hell?!" said Ryuji, "how does that work?!"

"I can't even begin to imagine…" Yusuke said. "I am looking forward to beholding it in person."

"Ohhh, so that's why it's called 'Big Bang' Burger. Big Bang is space lingo!" Ann said, seeming pleased with herself for having come to such a conclusion.

Akira was extremely intrigued. _Outer space? This is going to be interesting…_

"This is most exciting," said Yusuke. "We ought to head in at once - both because of this excitement, and to avoid drawing suspicion."

"I agree," said Akira. "After that vandalism incident, it would be a real bad idea to loiter."

"All right," said Makoto, "I'll activate when you give the word. Is everyone ready?"

The team affirmed this, and Makoto pushed the button.

"All right, we're in!" said Joker. "Let's go, team! It's time to rescue our Mona!"

* * *

But within minutes of starting the mission, the Phantom Thieves encountered an unopenable door with an unbreakable lock. "DAMN IT!" shouted Skull, hurling himself against it.

"We've hit a blockade quite early," said Fox. "Will we have to control the real Okumura's cognition to pass?"

"Forget about that," said Queen, "if we can't get through, Mona hasn't been able to proceed any further either. If he is here, it seems he'd be somewhere before this door…"

"Halt, vigilante!" shouted a familiar female voice. Akira and the crew looked up. Standing on top of a set of shelves full of miscellaneous space cargo was an elegantly dressed girl wearing a black vest over a blouse, pantyhose, a stylish mask, with her most identifying feature being an old fashioned looking hat with a feather.

"Who is that…" Panther wondered aloud, "Could it be…"

"I think…" Queen seemed to agree.

"Whoa…" Skull was awed.

"It's…" said Oracle… "I've… I've never seen her before."

"It's Haru." Joker walked up to her. "Haru! What are you doing here? How did you get inside a Palace?"

"How do you know my name…" Haru was confused, but then, she looked closer, and the truth dawned on her. "Akira! You again! And your friends… you're all wearing costumes like mine…" she gasped. "You're… you're the Phantom Thieves!"

"Indeed they are," said a familiar boyish voice. Morgana suddenly descended from the shadows, and Panther cheered. "Mona! You're okay!"

"Long time, no see, Panther," said Mona.

"Uhh… it hasn't been that long. Only like a few days." Skull corrected.

"If you came for the Treasure, you should just go home with your tail between your legs," Mona said in an aggressive tone of voice.

"We came to rescue you, actually," said Fox, but Mona ignored him. "The Treasure will be taken by me. Me, and this… Beauty Thief!" Haru appeared confused. "I'm talking about you!" Mona hissed rather audibly. "Oh, oh right," Haru whispered, and she turned and faced the thieves.

"My name is Beauty Thief! We will take the Treasure!" Haru leapt off of the shelf and twirled in the air stylishly, before landing neatly on her feet and striking a somewhat silly pose, with her arm extended outwards dramatically towards Joker and company. "What?" Queen was baffled. "Beauty Thief?!"

"That's supposed to be a codename? It's pretty silly, if you ask me." Joker commented. Mona heard him, and evidently took great offense. "Shut up!"

"We will take the Treasure!" shouted Haru, ignoring Oracle's comment of "You both already said that."

"You are not qualified to be Phantom Thieves! Do you understand what it means to be a phantom thief? An admirable phantom thief is… uh…"

Mona egged her on. "Tell them!"

"Uh… you!" Haru/Beauty Thief looked at Joker. "What do you think it means?"

"A Phantom Thief," Joker replied flippantly, "is a dashing, gallant hero who saves those in need, lifting the weak up from the depths of oppression, all while embarking on grand, thrilling adventures while outsmarting and mocking their most despicable adversaries! It's also really fun."

"Uh… I suppose that's all true…" Haru was conflicted. "Never mind the idle chitchat!"

"But you started it," Ann complained. Haru and Mona did not take note of this response.

"You seem to have planned this tirade poorly, you two," said Queen. "Can we just have our cat back and go home, please?"

"No… we don't have time to chat! And I will never go back with you!" yelled Mona. "Come on, we're leaving!"

Again, Haru striked her silly pose. "We will take the Treasure!"

"You already said that…" said Futaba.

Joker decided to attempt to reason with Haru. "Beauty Thi - uh, no. I'm not calling you that. Haru! There's no way you can do this with just Mona. This place is huge! Either go back home or let us help!"

"I decline!" said Haru. "How, I wonder, would the Phantom Thieves help me - when they can't even help their own teammate!"

She and Mona approached the unopenable door with the unbreakable lock. "We've had enough of your pointless waffle!" Mona yelled. "Now, we must be going!" Haru held out her hand to the door.

 _WHIIIIIIIIIR_

"AUTHENTICATING… AUTHENTICATING…"

"Hey," Skull yelled, "there's no point, that door don't open!"

 _BEEEEEEEP_

"ACCESS GRANTED." Haru looked back at them, took off her hat and curtsied, as though to cheekily flaunt their skills.

"Don't underestimate us," Mona said, as the door opened behind them, revealing an army of Shadows behind it. The team let out a collective gasp. "Uh, Mona!" said Joker, "that doesn't look so great!"

"What?!" said Mona, haughtily, "don't try to mess with us! There's definitely not a whole bunch of Shadows standing behind us waiting to ambush -" Haru lightly turned her head. "Mona-chan! They're serious!"

Mona turned around and his ginormous eyes widened in shock. His mocking demeanor reverted into a state of urgency. "Oh no! AHH!" He leaped away from them. "That's too many! We gotta get out of here!"

The Phantom Thieves independently made a similar decision. "We need to run!" Makoto urged them all. "We'll meet up later at our normal spot - let's hurry!" And with that, the previously bickering thieves fled Okumura's Palace.

* * *

The team agreed to make looking at the student records for information about Haru their top priority the very next day. As Makoto had access to the records in the student council room, they would meet with her there after classes let out. Meanwhile, Futaba and Yusuke were to continue looking into Okumura.

Akira could not deny he was excited - but he was also very confused. What, he wondered, was Haru doing with Morgana? She had seemed very inexperienced and awkward. He wondered how they had found each other…

He supposed they would figure it out later. The instant class ended, Akira rushed to the student council room, where he found Makoto, Ann and Ryuji. "Hello everyone," said Makoto. "Let's get going through those records."

"What kind of records do you have access to?" Ann inquired.

"Pretty much everything the staff do," Makoto said. "Student yearbooks, incident reports, grades, whatever. I believe that's how I figured out where Akira lived and got his phone number." Akira smirked.

"Are they organized by given name, or family name?" asked Akira. "The latter," said Makoto, and everyone groaned. "We still don't know Haru's family name," said Ann. "This is going to take a little longer than I imagined…"

"Awww man!" complained Ryuji.

"Come on, man," Akira said, "quit complaining. We gotta do this. If we don't find intel on Haru, we might not be able to convince her to talk to us. She might get herself killed raiding Okumura's Palace with Mona!"

"I guess that's true…" Ryuji gave in to Akira's reasoning. "All right, well, better get started."

They started with the student yearbooks. Akira's eyes swam across a sea of photos, but he barely paid the faces any mind - he was looking for Haru. Haru, Haru Haru… He looked at all the given names of the students. He saw a Hidoki, a Hoshi, a good many Hiros, but no Haru…

"There can't be that many students whose names begin with H…" he groaned in exasperation.

"Oh!" said Ryuji. Everyone gave him their attention. "Man, this girl's hot! She's younger than me, though… man…"

"What does this have to do with anything?" protested Ann. "You're getting off track."

"I found her!" said Makoto. "Haru… Okumura Haru!"

Ryuji forgot about the hot girl in the yearbook. Everyone stood up and crowded around Makoto. Sure enough, there in the book was a small portrait of their Beauty Thief, with a caption underneath reading, "Okumura Haru."

"We found her!" said Akira. "Okumura… Okumura! She's related to Okumura somehow! He's… she said he was a rich and powerful man…"

"How many other rich and powerful Okumuras are there?" Makoto said. "There is no doubt in my mind - Haru is Okumura Kunikazu's daughter! No wonder…"

"That's how she opened the door!" Ann suddenly realized. "Because she's related to him!"

"Then we totally need her help!" Ryuji said. "We won't be able to get past that door and change Okumura's heart if we can't get her on board!"

"But that begs the question… how did she get into her father's Palace? And why?" Makoto pointed out.

With the new information secured, Akira began digging through Makoto's copies of the other records, and pulled out Haru's file. "It says… almost nothing," he observed. "She gets above-average grades, is Okumura's daughter, there aren't any incidents or special considerations noted on here… and… she's a third year. That's about it."

"In that case, it appears we have exhausted all our data for now," said Makoto. "Seeing as she keeps her head down, and has no friends…"

"Yeah… there's no one we can talk to about Haru… except Haru herself." Akira concluded.

"I think she's gone home for the day," Makoto said. "Let's try and speak with her again tomorrow." As they left, Makoto grabbed Akira's arm and looked at him sweetly. "Akira… Let's go for a walk somewhere."

* * *

Finding Haru the next day proved to not be necessary. She was outside, trying to push a cart carrying several large bags of fertilizer. She was having much difficulty with it. Akira was leaving Shujin with Makoto, his arm laced around her shoulder, when he noticed Haru. "Hey," said Akira, "there she is. Gardening."

Makoto looked in the direction Akira indicated. "I see…" she said. "I guess our date will have to be put off for now." She gently nudged him. "I mean…"

"Got it," Akira lifted his arm away and placed it by his side. "Let's go talk to the Beauty Thief." He and Makoto walked over to Haru. "Do you need any help with that?" he asked.

Haru turned and looked up at Akira. "You!" she said. "What do you want from me? I don't want your help!" Haru was very forceful. But then she appeared to think better of her words, and spoke again, more carefully - "Uh, I'm sorry - I mean with that Palace. Carrying these bags, that, I could use a hand for. Thank you for asking."

"Can we ask why you don't want our help changing your father's heart?" Makoto asked. Haru was shocked. "My… my father? Oh… I see. You did your homework…" She sighed. "Okay, help me with carrying all this, and I'll explain."

Makoto and Akira agreed. When they were finished assisting Haru, she began the story…

"My father's a highly respected manager. People had been spreading rumors about him for a long time - but I never believed them. It was only after I met some of his employees by chance that I began to doubt him."

Haru quietly reflected for a moment, then continued, "I never quite saw eye-to-eye with him, but recently things… escalated. I wasn't happy where I was, with where he was, with my life, and with the way my family's legacy was being treated." Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"I… I love my father - but I feel that he's lost sight of something. Something very important. But I couldn't tell him about it. I couldn't do anything. But one night, I found Mona-chan. I followed him back to my father's headquarters, and found myself in the Metaverse with him. He explained everything to me - and it was there, when we were ambushed by Shadows, that I awakened to my Persona.

I want to make amends regarding the company, and my father. Even if it may only be for my own self-satisfaction… And, with Mona-chan's help, I can do just that! Even if I can't change the state of affairs at the company - I can at least change my father…" Haru had a quiet, melancholy look on her face. "The way he looks at me sometimes… like I'm nothing to him but a tool… It feels… wrong."

"Can't we work together?" Akira asked kindly, but Haru shook her head regretfully.

"No. I will work only with Mona-chan on this. And besides - As I said yesterday, you are not helping your teammate. You don't know what you want to do. You had plenty of grounds on which to change my father's heart, and yet you deliberated on the matter." Haru seemed particularly upset about the last part. "I can't work with anyone so indecisive."

"Okumura-san…" Makoto said slowly… "We… we had to be careful. It wasn't as simple as -"

"I've explained myself to you now," said Haru, "and I do not need your help. Please, leave me alone. I wasn't kidding about calling my father's security." Akira started to say something, but Makoto silenced him. "It's useless. Let's just do as she says."

They walked away to discuss the developments. "Well," said Akira, "that was useless… again."

"Yes," Makoto agreed, regretfully, "she seems set on refusing our help. We should figure out what to do now…" Makoto was suddenly quiet. "She hit a nerve. We don't know what to do?"

"She may be right," Akira pointed out. "Our constant debate and disagreement did contribute to the rift driven between us and Morgana."

"True," Makoto couldn't help but agree. "I guess we just need to make a decision."

* * *

The Phantom Thieves were now staking out Mementos, waiting for their rogue rivals. Haru and Morgana had been fulfilling requests from the Phan-site independently, and they had decided, ultimately, to attempt an appeal to them in order to get Mona back - and hopefully, gain Haru's assistance in infiltrating Okumura's Palace.

But they had no idea when Haru and Morgana would return, so they were simply… waiting. Joker was leaning against the wall, tapping his foot to some jazz music from his mp3 player. He had placed only his earbuds in only one ear, so that he could also pay attention to his teammates.

"This is boring!" Skull complained. "Why am I even here anyway?"

"You have to apologize to Mona," Queen reminded him. The team all nodded in assent. "You will actually apologize, right? Not just spit in his face again?" checked Joker.

"Yeah," said Panther, "remember what we talked about?"

"I know, I know… I'm just sick of it! We've been sitting here for like forever!"

"You should've brought something to do," Joker pointed out, "Like everyone else did."

"It's not worth complaining about," said Fox, framing the scene in front of his face with his hands. "I personally find this refreshing. It's giving me an opportunity to consider the aesthetics of the Mementos entrance. I never closely observed those chains on the walls…"

The team waited a while longer. Ann read a fashion magazine. Queen was watching Oracle shuffle through things on her laptop. Yusuke continued simply observing. "Oooh," said Ann, "this designer put out a new line of lipstick! It's so colorful!"

"How captivating," Yusuke said. "I have considered wearing lipstick myself."

"Dude," said Ryuji, "you're so weird."

"Wait - but I don't have the money for it!" Ann groaned, "Awww…"

"Oracle," Queen asked, "what are you doing with that?"

"Ah, this broadcasting software?" Oracle said. "Well, I remember some of my mom's notes about the cognitive world theorizing about electronics and networks working here. I wonder, would it be possible to broadcast messages from here to the outside world? So I've been testing out various possible methods of doing that by pinging a server back at Sojiro's house, and watching for the feedback."

"That sounds cool, but I'm not sure how useful that would be." commented Joker.

"What does 'ping' mean?" asked Queen.

"Basically to send a signal to the server, and wait for a response. It's a check of connection. Kind of like if you were across a pond, and you yell and wave at a friend across the pond and your friend yells back to confirm that they're still there. Anyway - I've tried it, and don't think I can send messages through the Metaverse with regular internet. So what I'm thinking of doing instead is -."

"Hold on," said Queen, "this is all very interesting, but… where on Earth did you get such a lewd photograph?!"

"Huh?" Oracle was briefly confused. "Oh, this? I'm not sure what this is…"

Queen took a closer look at the picture on Oracle's laptop. "Why, that's - Oracle! How did you get - why - please delete that at once!" Her face was a hot shade of red, redder than Joker's gloves or Panther's suit, perhaps even redder than the walls of Mementos.

"Sorry!" Oracle said apologetically. "I don't know where that came from! I really need to clean up my hard drive…"

"What are you talking about?" said Skull, stirring from his boredom and inattention.

"I - I -" Queen was mortified. "If that's what I think it is, I'm pretty sure you don't want to get involved," Joker warned him. "Queen's pretty pissed."

"Ah, whatever," Skull resumed his state of skulking. "Anyway, how long have we been here?"

"I don't know," said Joker, "I haven't really been counting."

"Ain't he gonna show up today? I mean, what time is it now?"

"Hold that thought," said Fox. Mona and Haru emerged from the entrance, and stopped when they saw the Phantom Thieves. Haru was very surprised, and Mona's huge eyes widened, accentuating their hilariously cartoonish proportions. "You guys," he said scathingly, "are slacking off way too much!"

"Do you have business with us?" Haru inquired simply.

"Why are you fulfilling all those requests on the Phantom Aficionado Website?" Queen asked. "And leaving comments? That's incredibly reckless. Your identity could be discerned by a keen eye that way."

"Indeed," Fox added, "the police will track you down in no time. If that were to happen, we'd be caught up in it as well."

"That was not my intention!" Haru cried. "I'm not very good with machines… I'm truly sorry." Haru curtsied politely.

"What?" Mona was incredulous. "Why're you apologizing?"

"They're telling us for our sake, aren't they? We ought to thank them…"

"…"

Mona huffed and turned his head to the ground in frustration. It was obvious he didn't want to admit that Haru was right.

"Please," said Queen, "won't you put what happened behind us? We want you back, Mona!"

"So… you're here for me?" Mona said. "You guys do need me after all?"

 _Good,_ Akira thought, _We're convincing him._

"You're a vital asset to our team," Joker told him. "You're important to us. To me! You're our guide. You taught me so much about this world. You're my cat - well, a human - but you play the role of my cat. You're one of us, Mona. Please, come back."

Upon the conclusion of Joker's appeal, Mona's expression changed to one of pleasant surprise. "Joker… do you really mean that?"

"Eh," said Skull nonchalantly, "I guess we could still use you!"

 _WHAT? Oh, come on! Just as we were getting on his good side…_

"Ryuji!" Panther said, reproachfully. She turned to Morgana and carried Joker's torch. "We're sorry too, Morgana - we weren't taking your feelings into consideration at all."

Skull's undiplomatic quip seemed to have not done any lasting damage. Morgana's facial expression shifted to that of regret. "Lady Ann…"

"Ryuji didn't really mean what he said, you know? He wants to apologize…"

"Shouldn't you be using code names?" Haru asked.

However much Skull wanted to apologize, however, he clearly did not know how to do so properly. The team's appeal went south real fast, and Mona indignantly issued them a challenge. No one was happy in the slightest.

* * *

"Queen!" yelled Panther, "can't you just ride your motorcycle Persona?"

"My Persona doesn't work like that anymore! It evolved!" Queen yelled back. "Besides, it wouldn't be much use to us anyway - maintaining its existence long enough to chase Mona would drain my energy!"

Joker and company finally caught up to Morgana again, but he simply turned around and blew past them once more. "Damn!" exclaimed Skull, "Haru's one hell of a driver!"

"This isn't working," Fox said, "We should try and devise a different method of capturing them!"

 _CRASH!_

"It sounds like that won't be necessary," Joker said. "Let's go see what happened just now!"

The six of them rushed up and over the tracks, where they found Mona is his bus form, toppled over to the side. "Mona!" Panther called out, "are you okay?"

 _POOF!_ Mona returned to his cat form, leaving Haru stranded on the tracks. He panted furiously. "You gotta hear us out, Morgana!" Skull pleaded. "Look, I'm sorry I called you stupid and useless, okay?! Please listen to us!"

"There's nothing to talk about!" Mona insisted.

"Please stop being so stubborn -" Queen began, but Mona was having none of it. "I can't give in! I have to protect my pride!"

"Mona!" said Panther. "Please, think about what you're saying! Your pride? You're simply shutting us out and being selfish!"

"OH MY GOD!" shrieked Haru, "what's that over there?!"

The team all turned their heads, confused. There was nothing "over there," but Haru's performance had been sufficiently convincing. While they were distracted, Mona transformed once more, and Haru entered the driver's seat and recklessly blew by them. Everyone leaped out of the way, coughing from the dust Mona kicked up. "Shoot!" Panther yelled.

As they all picked themselves up, Mona and Haru were nowhere to be seen, nor heard. They seemed to have departed.

"We've fallen for the oldest trick in the book!" Fox said regrettably. "What an ignominious failure."

The Phantom Thieves, tired and frustrated, unanimously agreed to call it quits for the day.

* * *

"Someone… Anyone… Is anyone out there?!"

Akira was in the streets of Shibuya, on the way back home with everyone shortly after the tedious encounter - when they heard Morgana yelling. "What was that?" Futaba said. "It sounded like Mona!"

"Over there!" Ann pointed in the direction of Protein Lovers, where the six teenagers beheld an upsetting sight. Haru was fighting against the grip of someone - a fancily dressed man in a tasteless purple suit. Meanwhile, Morgana was lying near the wall, dazed.

"That man -" Akira realized, "he's the one from Shibuya Station! We have to stop him!"

They all ran to the scene of the struggle. "Okumura-san!" Makoto called out. "Mona!" Futaba yelled, running over to check on him.

"The hell are you doing to our friend?!" Ryuji yelled.

"You…" said the man, letting go of Haru, "you all look familiar. Huh…" He couldn't seem to remember, and simply shrugged it off. "Must be my imagination. Sorry about the disturbance. It's just a… lover's quarrel with my fiancee."

"Fian - what?" Ann was baffled.

"Pardon for me for judging, good sir," said Akira with mock politeness, "but this does not look like it is destined to be a happy marriage."

"Wha - such insolence!" Haru's supposed fiance said, outraged. "I remember now… you're the brats who were snooping on us at the train station!"

"So what if we were?" said Akira, not backing down from his position. "It's a public place, sir, and it was summer break, a time during which - at least to my knowledge - we do not have school to occupy our time. Furthermore, you were making a scene which attracted our attention. Kinda like you are now…"

The man scowled and started to make a comeback, but then after a moment, pulled himself together and reigned in his anger. He turned away from Akira and spoke to Haru, extremely incensed. "How dare you make a fool of me. I'll be telling your father about this!" Then to the group, he said threateningly, "I won't forget your faces."

The fiance walked away angrily. Once he was gone, everyone composed themselves and Haru stood up. "Are you okay?" Ann asked.

"Was that person really your fiance?" Makoto asked.

Haru deliberated for a moment, evidently unwilling to admit it was true - but she ultimately nodded in confirmation.

* * *

"I left a request on the Phantom Aficionado website requesting a change of heart in my father quite a while ago. If I'd known back then, that day in Shibuya, that you were the Phantom Thieves," said Haru regretfully, "I would never have turned you away…"

"It isn't something we can just tell people," Akira said. With Haru's help, the team had made up with Morgana the previous night, and everything was alright. Haru had gotten some sleep on Akira's sofa, eaten breakfast with him and Futaba in the morning, and then returned back home. But now she was in Akira's room again, fully explaining her situation.

"I'm sorry," Haru said softly, "I didn't want all of you to get in over your heads. I meant what I said back then; I truly was trying to protect you all." Haru now wore a determined face. "But I see now - I understand why you persisted. It won't do to simply take my misfortune in stride while ignoring the suffering of others."

"If we trigger a change of heart in your father," Yusuke warned, "he'll definitely be taken in by the police. The label of a criminal's daughter will forever stick with you, and your living situation could change. Are you sure you want us to do this?"

Haru nodded. "I'm certain. Since I awakened to my senses, I've become desperate," she said. "I was upset when the Phantom Thieves didn't do anything - of course I couldn't understand the situation you were in, or the nature of the risks you take in changing hearts."

Haru looked at them quietly. "When I met Mona-chan, I thought it was fate… I thought if the Phantom Thieves wouldn't do it - I would do it myself. But I see now how reckless that was. I turned you away again, when I was being offered exactly what I wanted… But now, I've made my decision. I won't do such selfish things anymore."

Haru took a deep breath, carefully, before choosing her next words. Then, she got up off of her chair, kneeled head over heels on the floor, and begged. "Please - let me join the Phantom Thieves!" Akira stood up, and after a moment, Haru looked up to see his kind face and welcoming hand extended towards her.

"There's no need for that," he assured her, chuckling gently at Haru's odd behavior. "You're already one of us now." Surprised and grateful, Haru accepted Akira's outstretched hand, and got up off the floor. "Thank you!"

"All right!" Futaba cheered happily.

"I look forward to working with you!" Ann said encouragingly.

"Hell yeah!" Ryuji exclaimed excitedly, "let's change that bastard!"

"I'm glad you decided to join us." Makoto said, very pleased with the outcome.

"We are most grateful to have your assistance," Yusuke assented.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves!" Morgana warned them. "Haru's power is weak. She's barely a hair better than an amateur."

"Weak?" Futaba wondered.

"Her Persona's lacking a solid form at the moment. She may slow us down a lot."

"I'll try my best to keep up," Haru assured them.

"All right," said Akira, "we gotta take care of this by the tenth, before Haru gets married off to that purple-suited clown. Furthermore, since Okumura may be involved with the mental shutdown cases, we all need to be on guard."

"You don't gotta tell us twice, man," Ryuji said, enthused. "Let's do this!"

* * *

 _10/11/20XX_

"Coffee good for you?"

Akira sensed that something was wrong here. Haru… Haru…

"Kurusu Akira. That is your name, yes?"

"What do you want?"

"Charges have been filed against you. These allegations were raised by Kunikazu Okumura - Okumura Foods' President, of all people - for battery, defamation, and violating privacy. Furthermore, we received a tip-off from a reliable source that you are the leader of the infamous Phantom Thieves."

 _What? My head hurts…_

"You're coming with us. I'm sorry, but it has to be now."

"You really screwed things up…"

As Akira was being handcuffed, Haru entered, dressed in a rather provocative outfit and looking rather distraught. She was accompanied by her fiance - the purple-suited clown. Sugimura, his name was… Akira clenched his fists. "Greetings," said Sugimura, grinning deviously at Akira. "I do hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

And then Akira remembered. "You goddamn bastard…"

"My wife and I were just stopping in," he told Akira. "We're going to have such a wonderful time on our honeymoon…"

Haru was terrified. Upon closer examination, Akira observed that she had several scars and bruises. One such injury was on her cheek, another on her arm, and another slightly above her cleavage…

So Sugimura had been abusing her. Akira was absolutely disgusted. "I still don't think that looks like a happy marriage," he said, expressing the most extreme distaste in his voice. His quip was answered to with a hearty punch in the face.

"Akira!" Haru cried. "Akira… I trusted you… why didn't you change him?!"

Akira looked up, expecting to find Sugimura gloating over him - but he was stunned to instead see Haru standing over him wore a new color in her eyes - disappointment. She was sadly, sorrowfully staring down at him, and her fist was shaking. Sugimura, meanwhile, was behind Haru, appearing very irked and attempting to pull her away.

"Come on, honey," he said, "this place is no good. We're leaving." He pulled at Haru violently, and she shrieked. _Please help me,_ she mouthed -

* * *

And then, Akira awakened… "Holy crap…" that had been one hell of a nightmare. Not only had Haru been delivered to Sugimura, she had… was that really something she would do? She could get pretty violent when fighting Shadows.

But Akira knew he had no need to worry. The calling card had been delivered, right? He looked at the date and time - 8/25/2016, 5:30 AM. Someone might be awake. He decided to send a message to the group chat.

 **Akira:** Anyone up? I had one of those dreams again.  
 **Yusuke:** Ah, what this time?  
 **Akira:** Haru punched me in the face.  
 **Yusuke:** Oh dear. That is indeed truly terrifying.  
 **Akira:** Well, that, plus, I got arrested, she was married to the purple clown, etc. Pretty bad shit.  
 **Ryuji:** I'll say! By the way, Akira, where d'you suppose all these weird nightmares are comin' from?  
 **Akira:** Anxiety? It is pretty dang stressful doing all this stuff.  
 **Haru:** My, a dream about me? Akira, I am both disturbed and honored.  
 **Makoto:** Akira's been having dreams about nearly everyone. It's rather creepy… Ryuji does have a point. Where on Earth are you getting all these ideas about the possible outcomes?  
 **Akira:** I really don't have a clue…  
 **Ryuji:** Well, it don't matter. We're taking Okumura's Treasure today!  
 **Haru:** Yes, there is nothing to be concerned about.  
 **Akira:** True that. See you guys later!

Where his nightmares were coming from… good point. That reminded him, he hadn't yet read the second book - perhaps it would give him some sort of clue.

Akira opened up How to Conquer Demons. He expected the introduction to be long, drawn-out, and full of unnecessary filler about the history of man and the spirit and its greatest enemy or whatever - but it was ridiculously simple:

 _Okay, I'll cut the bullshit this time. This book is supposed to help you conquer demons._

It seemed the book was really sentient, and actively seeking to defy Akira's expectations. He laughed cautiously. Continuing on, he flipped past fifteen blank pages, flipping to a single sentence directly in the center of the sixteenth page.

 _Wow, you actually read all that?_

Akira couldn't help but laugh out loud at this. It was as though he himself had written this book, and was making fun of himself.

He continued reading into the first chapter.

 _Okay, getting serious this time. You, Kurusu Akira_

! It was written for him!

 _as you read this now, face great danger. As you are well aware by now, a terrible demon has invaded your dream world. You alone possess the power to expel it - but in order to win, you will first have to lose._

 _Write a question here: __

What? The book was asking him to write something? Akira was skeptical, but he reasoned that there was no harm in trying it. He wrote, "What do you mean by 'lose?'"

And before his very eyes, something astonishing happened. The book began to write back.

 _You will need to destroy your future, so that it can be birthed anew. This demon has been planted in your psyche as an act of sabotage by a malevolent deity. It's essentially a glorified mind control device. It can't be removed - unless you die first._

 _Write a question here: __

Akira gasped. He had to die? Why? He was extremely confused. This book seemed helpful, but - this just didn't seem right. What was wrong with him?

"Die?! How am I going to do that?"

 _Please trust me - It'll make sense soon. For now, you must play the game. In the meantime, do not read this book. It is not legitimate. It will revert to its normal state after we finish talking, but if you read it, it will work its magic on you, and your psyche will be completely under the deity's control. Please get rid of it as soon as possible. Throw away the other book as well._

 _Write a question here: __

Akira was shocked. So the book - How to Master the Art of Lucid Dreaming - it truly was evil. It was starting to make sense. "I still don't understand - where are these books coming from? How do they work exactly?"

 _That, I cannot explain. I'm not certain I fully understand it myself, and besides, my time is limited. One more warning - if you see more books like this one - ignore them! I must depart now. These words will disappear, so I suggest you copy them somehow._

 _Akira quickly took photos with his phone, and wrote another message to the book:_

"Who are you?"

 _Someone very familiar._

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (Published on AO3 5/27/2017):**_ Naturally, I removed all the stuff about the team being wary of Haru and thinking she was the traitor, cause in this new context that would make absolute no sense. Also cutting down on details about Ryuji and Morgana's argument. A lot of players seemed to consider that pretty frivolous, and anyway, it wasn't the point of these two chapters.


	11. Cheating The Game

_**Original Opening Note (Published on AO3 5/28/2017):**_ Basically a Breather Episode for today. The cheating gamer Mementos request was always my favorite, because it seemed like such a silly thing to change a heart for. It's definitely one of the most memorable moments for me because when I couldn't get any hits I was baffled, and actually googled "how to beat shadow nejima." When I realized it was a case of Fission Mailed and the game made me talk to Shinya and unlock the special ability, I was rather amused by the cheekily roundabout way of solving the problem. Then I used the ability and I just felt like a total badass - so I wrote some dialogue to match. It was fun!

* * *

It was 9/27/2016. Now that Okumura's Palace had been taken care of, the Phantom Thieves again had time to do a few Mementos requests. There were quite a number of them to take care of - a ton for Akira's friends, which included Iwai, Chihaya, and Ohya - and an obnoxious cheating gamer Mishima had told him about. Now that Noir was on the team, the conversation throughout was that much more lively.

"Did you know there's a turtle at the training building?" Noir asked. "It's actually quite a cute one."

"No, I never noticed it," Joker replied, "have you tried feeding it? I've heard that turtles quite like chocolate."

"What? - ! - that is not true!" Queen protested. "I'm rather certain that feeding a turtle chocolate would cause it to fall ill."

"We have a peacock at my school," said Fox. "I saw a fellow student attempting to feed it some sweets once. It did not show any interest, so I ate them instead."

"Dude," Skull commented, "feeding sweets to a peacock is a dumb idea. It's Panther you should feeding those to!"

"What?!" Panther seemed somewhat offended.

"One of our goldfish is dead," Queen said abruptly. The response to this was a confused, uncertain mix of confusion and amusement.

"That's," Oracle was cracking up, "the way you just said that, what? That's hilarious!"

"Oracle!" Panther reprimanded. "I think that's a bad thing!"

"Oh, my condolences," said Fox.

"Oh, no, it's not a big deal," said Queen, "he was probably going to die anyway. He leaped out of the tank and happened to land next to a bowl of sweets. I think he was trying to get to them."

"Fish lusting after sweets, of all things?" Joker was most amused. "What a strange thought! I wonder if there's candy in the ocean."

"There must be something of the sort," Oracle contributed, "after all, roughly ninety-five percent of the ocean is unexplored. Hmm, maybe we should explore it!"

"Let's just stick to exploring the Metaverse for now," Panther opined. "I don't want to imagine how big of a project exploring the ocean would be…"

"I wonder if we can change the hearts of fishes!" Mona said.

"That is a preposterous line of thought," said Yusuke, "yet an intriguing one…"

"You just want to change their hearts so they'll give into you eating them and/or being made into sushi, I bet," Joker teased.

"I - I do not!" Mona denied vehemently. "I - what if there are evil fish in the ocean? We could stop them from being mean to the good fish! And, uh, stuff."

"That seems extremely unlikely," said Queen. "Say, where are all the Shadows on this floor?"

There was an ominous rattling chain noise.

"Uh-oh," said Mona, "something's fishy here!"

"Well, yeah," said Skull, "we were just talking about fish."

There was an ominous rattling chain noise.

"I think Mona meant fishy in a different way," Joker said. "Do you guys notice anything strange? Like, I don't know…"

There was an _ominous rattling chain noise._

"An ominous rattling chain noise?"

"What?" said Fox, "I don't know for -"

 _ **There was an** **ominous rattling chain noise -**_

"Oh no!" yelped Panther, "It's that strong monster Shadow!"

"Oh FUCK!" shouted Skull.

"Strong monster Shadow?" Haru questioned.

"It's like, the guardian, or something…" Joker explained, "It - it doesn't matter now -" He looked over in the rear view mirror. "OH MY GOD!" He screamed, "IT'S RIGHT BEHIND US! **STEP ON IT, QUEEN!** "

Queen floored the gas pedal and spun the Mona bus around one-eighty, then sped off randomly to their left in a speeding frenzy. Everyone screamed like crazy as the sound of the rattling chains drew closer, closer… ever closer…

"AHHH WE'RE GONNA DIE!" shrieked Oracle.

"Queen," shouted Fox, "the stairs, to your right! Hurry!"

* * *

The Thieves made it to a rest area to catch their breath.

"What… the… hell…" Skull was panting like crazy.

"We got away…" Fox was drained.

"God, that was terrifying," Panther said quietly.

"Yes," said Queen. "As the strategist of the Phantom Thieves - I suggest we adapt our strategy to NEVER DO THAT AGAIN."

"What an… admirable idea…" Noir coughed.

"Agreed," said Mona. "I think my tires are burned…"

"I'll make sure to keep a careful eye out for that Shadow in the future," Oracle said. "That was the closest we've ever come to it… I really don't want to see it that close again."

"Me neither," said Joker. "We have one more request to fulfill for today. Is everyone okay to continue?"

"I need a nap…" Skull groaned.

"Come on, Skull!" said Panther. "It's just one more! We can do one more!"

"I agree with Panther," said Makoto, "we have plenty of steam left in us."

"Yeah," said Mona, "come on, we're the famous Phantom Thieves! We can't let one measly… giant… monstrous… terrifying Shadow get us down! Let's go team!"

"Very well…" said Haru, "but please… let us rest… a moment…"

* * *

After the team was fully prepared, they headed back into the demonic subways to take care of Nejima Yoshikuni - a jobless forty-year old man who wasted his time causing others much grief by cheating in an online video game.

"Who is this guy?" Ryuji wondered.

"A troll," Joker answered. "He's hacking this game called Gun About and messing with the other players. He's a huge douchebag and we need to teach him a lesson."

"That sounds like a rather trivial objective for the Phantom Thieves," Noir opined. "Why does it matter? It's simply a game."

"Hey!" Panther protested, "come on, some people really love video games! They play them to have fun and be happy! This Nejima person is trampling on that happiness, no matter how small it may seem, we need to make him come to his senses!"

"I suppose that is true…" Noir acknowledged. "Admittedly, I am not much of a video game player, so I would not understand I suppose - but I certainly sympathize."

"I agree," Fox said, "I don't often play video games either, but is extremely annoying when arrogant individuals suck the fun out of such enjoyable activities for those of others."

"Yes," said Oracle, with a passionate tone of irritation in her voice, "I've encountered this guy myself. He was rude, entitled, and killed me like sixty times before I could snipe him. I had to hack the server to kick him out. This man is very immature and is being a nuisance to gamers everywhere. We need to stop him!"

"Weren't we supposed to have this conversation before we came here?" Mona wondered.

"We do sometimes have second thoughts," Queen pointed out. "It is not unreasonable to voice them later on."

"Does anyone have any objections about this?" Joker asked. "Should we not change this guy's heart?"

Ultimately, no one had any objections.

"Alright, let's go kick his ass, then!" Skull yelled excitedly.

* * *

"Who're you?!" shouted Nejima's Shadow. "Have you come to challenge THE KING OF THE GUN ABOUT WORLD?"

"You bet we have!" Skull shouted back.

"We're the Phantom Thieves," Joker taunted, "and we're here to take your cheating heart!"

"Cheating? HAHAHAHAHA - I have no idea what you're talking about! I'm the winner! I decide justice! The winners are the ones who are right, it's the winners who decide what justice is!"

"Winners," Queen yelled at Nejima, "don't use cheats! You're going to lose big time!"

"I am the GOD of the Gun About world!" Nejima proclaimed arrogantly. "I AM INVINCIBLE! No one can ever hope to defeat me! And no matter how many may try, no one can ever **WOUND ME!** " The Shadow transformed into its true self - a tall lepaord man creature with a cape and two swords.

"What an insufferable entitled man-child!" Noir exclaimed. "Let us defeat him at once!"

"With pleasure," Joker said, summoning one of his many Personas and attacking. "Leanan Sidhe - **PSYIODYNE!** "

But nothing happened. "Oh man!" Joker groaned.

"Persona - HECATE! **AGIDYNE!** " Panther's attack missed as well. "WHAT?!"

"PERSONA - **BEHOLD!** " Noir shouted. "Destroy them, Milady!" Noir's Triple Down attack, however, proved useless. Shadow Nejima dodged again.

"You're pretty lucky," Skull said, "but the party stops here! SEITEN TAISEI! **ZIODYNE!** " But Shadow Nejima again dodged his attack. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"It's useless!" laughed Nejima's Shadow, "I AM INVINCIBLE!"

"That's - that's impossible!" Joker said. "No one is invincible! But if you're going to dodge everything - EVERYTHING we throw at you…" Joker had an idea. "Hang on - I've never seen anyone dodge this one! Chernobog - **LIFE DRAIN!** "

But the Life Drain spell had absolutely no effect. "WHAT? THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA -"

"Guys, we can't do anything to him like this!" Oracle called out. "Let's head back and rethink our approach!"

* * *

"What happened back there?! Our attacks didn't do anything!" Panther was incredibly irate.

"Indeed," Fox said. "We didn't have a chance of winning…"

"Yo, Mona - can't we do anything to figure this?" Skull asked.

"I don't know…" Mona was flabbergasted by what had just happened. "Cognition materializes in this place… cognition by nature is unpredictable."

"If only we could realize what his ability is…" Skull groaned.

"He has no special ability. He's simply cheating," said Joker. "It would seem that because of his cognition that he is unbeatable in the real game, he's unbeatable in the Metaverse too."

"That's gotta be it!" Oracle agreed.

"Whoa," said Noir, "Joker, I'm impressed you figured that out!"

"So what we need to do," Queen concluded, "is find some way to break his cheats…"

"Let's figure this out back in reality," Mona said.

"Sounds like a splendid idea," Fox said. "In that case, let us go at once."

 _Nejima…_ Akira thought he had heard someone mention that name before.

* * *

"You're trying to change the heart of a cheater named Nejima?" Hifumi said curiously. "Ah, it must be that shogi player's older brother."

"... Older brother?"

"Yes, do you recall the older teenager I mentioned, who used to cheat at shogi when playing with me?" Akira nodded. "This person has an elder brother who is also a rampant cheater at many kinds of games… However, Nejima Akimitsu has a job and a legitimate life on his own these days. No longer a cheater - he 'manned up,' as some might say. Whereas Yoshikuni is a headache to his family and many others, and still lives with his mother."

"Do you think his brother might have any idea how to beat him?" Akira wondered.

"I haven't got a clue," said Hifumi. "I'm not in contact with him anymore - he and I have no reason to associate any further. However he often frequents… oh, there he is right now."

Akira looked over to see a tall, young respectably dressed man in his early to mid twenties approaching the confession booth. "Akimitsu comes by here often," Hifumi explained, "to do a confession… He's rather diligent about it."

The man entered, as Akira watched curiously. "What's he confessing?"

"I wasn't the only child whose face he spat in as a teenager," Hifumi said. "He did a number of things worse than cheating at shogi…" Hifumi rearranged their shogi board. "If you want to wait and talk to him, I'd advise keeping yourself occupied in the meantime," she said. "He always takes quite a long time in there. Shall we play another match in the meantime?"

* * *

Just as Hifumi won against Akira - again - the younger Nejima exited the confession booth.

"Excuse me - Are you Nejima Akimitsu?" Akira asked. "My name is Kurusu Akira. I have a question for you…"

"If this is about something I did - please leave me alone. My sins are behind me, and I'd like to continue going back to school and turn over a new leaf."

"Oh, no," Akira assured him, "It's about your older brother."

"Also not a worthwhile topic of conversation," said Nejima Akimitsu. "My family is completely a mess thanks to him and his idiocy…"

"Oh? What'd he do?"

"He's a goddamn moron!" Nejima said. "When he got laid off from his job, Yoshi swiped all our credit cards and bankrupted us just to play some stupid video game - in the process, ruining ALL our credit histories! Then he got bored cause he couldn't win, so now he's cheating and ruining the fun for everyone else who worked and bought it with their own damn hard-earned cash…" Nejima huffed angrily.

"He's been winning for so long that I think if only he were defeated enough times, he'd come to his senses and give us our money back. But there's nothing we can do… so I'm stuck working this damn boring job to support my family. We live in a shithole of a house and we're trying to leave… but we can't. Our credit's so fucked that we can't find anyone who'll agree to work with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Akira said. "He's been bothering a lot of people in my friends' circle lately. We want to beat him in the game to teach him a lesson, or otherwise do something to shut him up. Could you help?"

"I'm sorry," Nejima shook his head. "I would be pretty happy if someone did something about my idiot brother, but I can't help you…" He sighed irritably.

"Wait, actually - there is something I can tell you that may be of use," Nejima realized. "I remember my brother called me late at night to complain that he'd been beaten in the game by this one guy… he's supposedly the best at this game. They call him 'The King.'"

"The King?"

"Yeah, I tried to get in touch with him to get his help knocking some sense into my brother - but he doesn't really give a shit. He just plays his own game. It'd be difficult for you to enlist his help, but he could teach you how to beat my brother, if you can convince him. Perhaps you'd have better luck than I did."

"Can you tell me where to find him?"

"Can't remember his real name, sorry," Nejima told Akira, "it's been quite awhile. If you ask around though, you'll figure out who he is. He's pretty famous among the gamers here…" Nejima turned to leave. "I'll be seriously grateful if you put my brother in his right mind. If I can just quit this job…"

"Thank you, Nejima-san," Akira said, "that was very helpful. I'll do what I can about your brother."

* * *

The next day - 9/28/2016 - Akira went looking for the King.

"The King, huh?" wondered Futaba. "I've heard about him. He'd almost definitely have some idea what to do. I think if you try asking around at the arcades, you might figure out who he is."

"Thanks, Futaba!" said Akira, "I'll let you know when I dig something up."

 **A short time later…**

"The King? You must be talking about the King of Akihabara." said the annoyed gamer who had been trying to defeat Nejima. "Yeah, I know him. He's only in elementary school, but he's a real pro at Gun About! I bet he's probably a cheater too…"

"Nah," said the other gamer, "He's legit. He's actually really good at Gun About! You can tell from the way he moves. You'd find him at the Gigolo Arcade after school."

 **A less short time later…**

"Well, that's that!" said the King, a little kid with a hoodie and a cap which read "GET SMOKED." He had blasted two expert opponents to next Sunday, and still clearly wanted more of a challenge. He turned to Akira curiously. "What do you want?"

"Can you teach me some tricks?" Akira asked. The boy shook his head. "Nah, sounds like too much work. Don't take it personally, I turn everyone down. Later!" The boy turned to leave, but Akira persisted.

"Wait up," said Akira, "there's an invincible player. I have to beat him."

"Invincible, huh? The cheater, right? Makes me mad when he does that…" The boy shrugged. "I don't really care, I can still beat him anyway. It ain't my problem. Just forget him." Again, the kid made for the door.

"He's bothering a lot of people," Akira pleaded. "I gotta stop him from ruining the game for everyone else."

The boy's face lit up and he turned around. "You don't want to beat this guy just for yourself, eh? I've never had anyone ask me like that. You sound like the Phantom Thieves…" He groaned. "You wanna beat the cheater? Well, you seem like a nice guy and all, but let it go…"

The boy was suddenly introspective. Akira watched curiously, wondering what was stopping him from leaving, as he was about to do a moment ago…

"The Phantom Thieves are really cool… Are you a fan too? Have you met them?!"

"You bet I have!" Akira said, "I go to Shujin. Their first success was there. It was so cool!"

Now he had the boy's attention, but he still seemed reluctant. "Hmm… well… it won't be easy to teach you. And I don't get anything…"

"We can make a deal of some sort," Akira said. Now The King was seriously listening. "Okay, how about this - I want to meet the Phantom Thieves!"

"Whoa -"

"If you can make that happen, I'll teach you."

Akira thought for a moment. There was no way the Phantom Thieves could actually meet this kid! If only he knew he was already talking to one, he thought. Would make this a lot easier for sure. But… maybe they could do something… "I'll see what I can do."

The boy was surprised. "Whoa - you didn't say no?! I thought for sure I'd stumped you? But… how are you gonna do that? They can't show their faces, right? How would I meet them?"

"What's your name, kid?" Akira asked. "I can introduce you to them!"

"Shinya. Oda Shinya."

"Alright, Shinya-kun," Akira told him, smiling. "I'll come back here when I figure something out."

"Whoa!" Shinya exclaimed, skeptical, but amazed. "If you really pull this off… well, I'll be here. In fact, I think I'll stay here awhile… I feel like playing another game!"

* * *

"Kid wants to meet us, huh?" Futaba said. "Hm…" she thought for a good few minutes, then laughed mischievously. "All right! I got an idea. Let's go print up a card!"

Within an hour, Akira returned to Akihabara and texted Futaba.

 **Akira:** Don't get busted!  
 **Futaba:** It'll be fine!  
 **Futaba:** Okay, commencing the hacking!

 **A moment later…**

"A calling card! Whoa… WHOA! This can't be real… 'Thanks for your support. Please help those in need. We're going to post a secret message, just for you, on the game's official website!'"

But Shinya was still skeptical. "This card's gotta be fake… are you sure this ain't a joke?"

Akira pulled out his phone and showed it to Shinya. "Check this out, kid."

"WHOA - - the Phantom Thieves logo! They hacked the site! NO WAY!"

* * *

"All right team!" Akira said, "we can stop that idiot now!"

"Woo hoo!" yelled Ryuji, "alright, let's go to the Metaverse tomorrow and stick it to him!"

"That story you told us though…" Ann mused, "Not only is he a cheater, but he stole from his own family?! I can't forgive him!"

"Yes," said Yusuke, "that is very dishonorable. I am even more certain now that we must defeat him."

"I agree," said Makoto. "We can't let them suffer any longer. Let's meet tomorrow and knock some sense into him!"

* * *

"You again?!" yelled Shadow Nejima. "I am INVINCIBLE! You cannot defeat me!"

"We're going to stop you," shouted Joker. "You're gonna stop ruining Gun About and pay your family back for all the money you stole!"

"What? - how do you know about -" Shadow Nejima was incredulous at the mention of his family. "It doesn't matter! I will crush you all!"

The Shadow transformed, and the team rushed to battle positions. "All right, Joker -" Oracle said, "that special move the King taught you! Get him!"

Joker pulled out his gun and pointed it at Shadow Nejima, then leaped up into the air, emptying his magazine swiftly upon him. He landed, reloaded quickly, then elegantly leaped again and continued firing nonstop, focusing intently. Time seemed to slow down… And then Nejima's Shadow was knocked right off his feet as Joker firmly planted himself back in his original position.

"WHAT? A gunshot that surpasses my cheats?! This can't be? I'm supposed to be the strongest… the king! I don't believe it!"

"The **true** King sends his regards," Joker replied, scowling at him mischievously. _**"GAME OVER!"**_

Upon uttering this taunt, Joker and the party leaped up into the air and rained hell upon Shadow Nejima, making short work of him. He was pretty pathetic and easily defeated. He dissolved back into his inital form and began to speak.

"I-Impossible…" he said weakly, "how could I… it wasn't… my fault…" Nejima groaned. "I got laid off from my old job… It's… it's their fault!"

"That doesn't give you the right to ruin fun for others," Joker told him, "or steal money from your own family."

"I… I know… I'm sorry…" Nejima sobbed. "I'll stop cheating… I'll help my family out of this situation…"

"You better!" said Skull. "They don't deserve to put up with your bullshit!"

"Goodbye… Phantom Thieves…"

Shadow Nejima disappeared, leaving behind a Null Phys skill card, which Joker took in his hands.

"We won!" Panther cheered. "We beat an unbeatable player!"

"Yes," said Queen. "And things will assuredly get better for his family too."

"That was an excellent maneuver, Joker," Fox commented.

"Yeah…" said Joker. He was thinking.

 _"To get back at someone who didn't play by the rules?"_  
 _"You know shogi isn't a duel to the death, right?"_  
 _"But if it were…"_  
 _"Then… perhaps such a move would be justified."_

"That wasn't cheating too, what I did? Was it?"

"No," said Mona, "you played by the rules."

"But the Metaverse is a cognitive world," said Joker. "It has no rules, right? Except the rules we make… or the rules they make…"

"We played by our rules!" Panther said. "And our rules were better than that idiot Nejima's rules! We didn't do anything wrong!"

"Yeah, dude," said Skull, "you were good with a gun. That Nejima dude wasn't shit. Come on, you okay?"

"Yes, Joker," Queen wondered, "Is something wrong?"

 _For now, you must play the game…_

Joker shook his head. "I don't know. I guess I was just thinking too hard." He beamed proudly at everyone. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

* * *

It was now a week later - 10/5/2016 - and Akira was playing another match with Hifumi. She was besting him, as usual. "Checkmate. I win!"

"Like always, of course." Akira smiled pleasantly. "You know, I used to be a little annoyed when you win - But it's always refreshing to see that my teacher is better than me at the art they teach. It means I have more to learn."

"Indeed you do," Hifumi acknowledged, beaming at him. "By the way, did you change Nejima's heart?"

Akira was about to answer when Nejima Akimustu approached the two of them.

"Excuse me, Kurusu-kun," the younger Nejima said. "I wanted to tell you - my brother apologized to my family, and he's got himself a new job to earn back the money he took from us. He also made a really long post on the community forum for that game…"

Akira pulled out his phone and navigated to the Gun About forums, where he saw a popular post labeled, "APOLOGY TO THE COMMUNITY FROM THE CHEATER NEJIMA." He opened it and began to read out loud,

"'To the community of the popular video game Gun About,

"'I have greatly sinned, and committed many cheats in your fun video game. In doing this, I wasted a lot of money on microtransactions in the game, and further gamed the system when I ran out of money to illegally obtain OP items and weapons -'"

"What does OP mean?" Hifumi inquired.

"It's internet lingo," Akira explained. "It stands for 'overpowered.'" He continued reading: "'obtain OP items and weapons, and used many hacks with a malicious game hacking software package in order to remotely steal in game currency from players, decrease their power levels, and generally make the game unenjoyable for all except myself. I saw myself as the king of Gun About and now I understand that this is not true.

"'Furthermore, outside of the game world, I stole money from my family after I got laid off from my job and used it to buy an enormous amount of more in game items. It is due to my greedy addiction, and theft of their property, that they have been plunged into poverty and now find it difficult to move forward with their lives. From this day forth, I will work to help them and generally be a productive member of society.

"'I will resign from playing Gun About for the rest of my life, and in fact request that I be officially banned from the game in order to prevent my toxic addiction from reawakening. Here are all the usernames of the players I have wronged, and a detailed account of the instances in which they were subjected to my cheating…'"

Akira was impressed. "It really says all their names! Wow."

"I think he spent way more time than he needed to on all that," said Nejima, "but I'm proud of him for finally waking up and taking responsibility. What on Earth did you say to him? It's as if he had a change of heart…"

Akira winked at Hifumi. "I didn't do much," Akira said. "I just beat him! I guess he hadn't lost for awhile…"

"Yeah, he must be really upset about losing… that must be it. Well, whatever you did - thank you so much! My family and I will be forever grateful for what you've done."

"No problem," Akira said, grinning. Nejima walked away and, Akira looked at Hifumi, grinning. "You're a wonderful thief," she said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you stole my heart as well."

"I already stole a different heart," Akira quipped. "Don't get any ideas…"

"I know," Hifumi smiled knowingly. "Shall we play again?"

* * *

"Greetings, Akira," Akechi said pleasantly. Akira was in his Phantom Thief outfit, and Akechi was wearing casual winter clothes.

"Oh hey… good to see you, Akechi," Akira lied. "What day is it?"

"It's 10/10/20XX," Akechi replied pleasantly. "You did such an excellent job changing Okumura's heart!"

"What?" Akira was baffled. "How do you know we did it? And why are you commending us?"

Akechi laughed. "Ah - Akira, I am simply commending you on a job well done! It's what a friend would do, after all." _Sippp._ "Even if I do not necessarily approve of the job itself, I must acknowledge your good accomplishments. As someone who cares for you."

Akira smiled slyly. "I see… then thank you. In that case, Akechi. You did a very excellent job deducing that we have, in fact, changed Okumura's heart!"

"Yes," Akechi said, "yes I have. And he'll confess tomorrow, won't he? I wonder what will come of that…" He smiled. "It will surely provide me with more evidence, with which to put me one step further on the path to arresting you. I am very impressed with how long you have managed to elude my efforts thus far."

"I am very impressed with how long you've persisted," Akira replied. "With each step you take, we will remain two steps ahead, and you will not catch up to us. We're too fast, and too clever for you, Akechi. In fact, it's been laughably easy for us to escape your clutches - you really ought to up your game so we can have more of a challenge."

They both laughed heartily.

Akechi was quiet for a moment. Then he said, regrettably:

"Isn't this boring?"

"Hmm…" Akira pondered that thought for a few short minutes.

"Doesn't this seem like just business as usual to you? If neither of us ever truly bests the other, or at least comes close… isn't it just the same? Don't you wish that we could have more fun with this?"

"Yeah… I suppose… but don't we have to do our jobs?"

"True," said Akechi. "I suppose the only way to make it more exciting would be to up the stakes. We both seem to be doing our very best to live up to the other's challenge. Maybe you should get a bigger target."

"Maybe you should break into my room," Akira suggested, "and search for evidence, despite lacking a warrant."

"That would go against my values," Akechi pointed out, "and besides, I know you're so clever that you'd have left no evidence. Besides, it sounds like a trap."

"That is true," said Akira. "Were our positions reversed, I would also be suspicious of such a proposition."

"Of course you would."

Akechi finished his coffee.

"Well," Akechi mused, "there is little point in me staying here any longer. I have much work to do. And besides…" he smiled. "Things will get more exciting soon, I think."

"Why do you say that?"

"I have a hunch. I've learned to trust my hunches…"

* * *

At the edge of Kurusu Akira's dream world, Akechi Goro chuckled. "Yes, it's a very reliable hunch…"

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (Published on AO3 5/28/2017):**_ The additional story details about Nejima stealing money is actually based on something in real life. Won't name any names for obvious reasons, but a friend of mine was talking to me yesterday about how his family is in a bind (and has been for quite awhile) because his dad stole all their credit cards, committed a whole lot of fraud (and various other crimes including generally being an asshole), ruined their credit history, and then promptly died.

I was thinking yesterday as we discussed all this, man I wish the Phantom Thieves could've changed his dad's heart... and I figured twisting some of that into this would make things more interesting, and add an extra dimension to Nejima's story.

Anyhoo, that's a story! I laughed way too much writing the confession. Next up there'll be more extra Haru scenes, Akechi stuff, etc. I'm probably giving away too much, but I really like how I'm thinking the penultimate chapters will go. You'll never see it coming... I hope.


	12. Violating Sanctuary

_**Original Opening Note (Published on AO3 5/29/2017):**_ We're getting closer! Today, we'll be covering the great escape's humble beginnings. A little mind games, a little nonsense, a little angst, a little psycho drama, a little fluff. It's all coming together, bit by bit. I actually don't even want to leave any chapter notes, really, I'm just very excited. Please enjoy it!

* * *

Haru was beyond shocked. Her father… Why? What had she done…

Akira was not doing much better. Had he… they… NO! What had they done…

Everyone was generally just freaked out.

No one was in the mood to hang around at Destinyland. Makoto suggested they all go home, and was met with no opposition whatsoever…

* * *

 **Haru:** Did… did we kill my father…? Did you… trick me?  
 **Akira:** Haru… no! We don't know…  
 **Ryuji:** DAMMIT! THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE!  
 **Yusuke:** I cannot believe this… we must have been set up!  
 **Makoto:** If that is so… then who set us up?  
 **Haru:** …  
 **Haru:** I - I'm sorry everyone. I won't be using this chat for awhile. I'll see you all at school… If you go to Mementos, please, go without me.  
 **Ann:** Haru…  
Haru is offline.

Akira put away his phone. He was absolutely stunned. Was Haru going to be okay? What she had said in the chat… If she believed that she had been mistaken - that she had been hoodwinked into joining a gang of murderers… If Haru decided that - how would they convince her otherwise?

He was riding the subway back to Yongen alone… he looked around the interior of the train. Voices were flying back and forth. Everyone was talking about Okumura.

 _Did you see the news?!_  
 _He collapsed…_  
 _Man, that was gross!_  
 _EPIC LIKE LIKE LIKE!_  
 _Is he dead?_  
 _We don't know…_  
 _Perhaps… !_  
 _Wasn't he targeted by…?_  
 _The Phantom Thieves!_  
 _HE'S DEAD! THEY SAID HE'S DEAD!_  
 _Holy shit, dude._

Akira's mind flashed back to that day… The first day he had come to Tokyo. Two girls had been talking. About mental shutdowns…

 _WHAT, are you for real? A "mental shutdown?"_  
 _ **It's the truth!**_  
 _To a person though? That's gotta be a joke…_  
 _You really love all that occult stuff don't you_

He was as lonely and isolated as he had been that first day… except then, he had no idea what they were talking about. The conversation he'd overheard had held no meaning to him whatsoever. All he wanted to do was sit, be quiet, and never be seen or spoken to again in this awful prison of a subway…

But today, overheard exchanges such as these held a much greater impact. They made Akira want to get up from his seat. He wanted to stand up and punch somebody. He didn't know who, he didn't know why - but there was somebody he wanted to punch.

He swore to himself, that he would find them… and he would make them pay for murdering Haru's father. For the subway accident… for causing so much suffering… for slandering the name of the Phantom Thieves.

* * *

 _ **BAM!**_ As Akira's gloved fist connected with Akechi's face, his chair toppled over and his coffee mug shattered upon the floor. "Ouch!" he said. "Akira, that was an admirable blow, but you've almost certainly blackened my eye. What did you do that for?!"

"My apologies, Akechi," Akira said politely, "but I've been really mad all evening, since Okumura suffered a mental shutdown and the blame was pinned onto us Phantom Thieves. I am sure you know me well enough to understand that I am most certainly not a murderer, and neither are any of my friends. It does not please me to be thought of as such."

"That does not explain this sudden violent maneuver," Akechi pointed out.

"Hold your horses, I was getting to that. You see," Akira continued. "I've been wanting to punch the person responsible. But since I don't know who that is, I decided to punch you instead. I needed to release this pent-up energy so that I could control myself. I do hope you don't mind."

"Oh, not at all," Akechi smiled pleasantly. "As a matter of fact -" There was a flash of blue, and Akechi, now in his Metaverse outfit, balled his fist and socked Akira square in the jaw. He fell to the floor, and spit out a tooth. "Come on, Akechi! I didn't hit you that hard."

"Do not worry," Akechi said, beaming at him, "your tooth hasn't actually fallen out - this is only a dream after all. Now, since you have rendered my coffee undrinkable, would you mind brewing me another?"

"Can't you just make one magically appear?"

"I could," Akechi agreed. "But it's simply more ethical for you to take responsibility."

Akira couldn't argue with that. He got behind the counter and began brewing Akechi some more coffee.

"So, do you believe I'm responsible for Okumura's death?" he asked.

"No, no not at all," Akechi assured him. "It's as you said - I do not believe you a murderer. It would violate the justice you uphold."

"Who do you think did do it?"

"Someone who has our same power, obviously," Akechi indicated, "possibly even greater powers. Additionally, someone who is watching over you, who has known about your group for some time now, who has a sinister motive. Perhaps a political one - they may mean to rise to power somehow, or assist another in doing so."

"What do you think about that?" Akira wondered. "It being political, I mean."

"Oh, I couldn't care less about politics," Akechi chuckled. "After all, you and I are both too young to vote in any elections."

"Understandable," Akira replied. He handed Akechi his coffee. "Thank you," Akechi said. "Now, I still haven't the foggiest idea who would have such motives, or why they would want to incriminate you in them. Although… yes, perhaps they are trying to cover their tracks. That must be it."

"You really have no clue what's going on?"

"Do you mean to suggest that I am deceiving you, Akira?"

Akira thought this over for a moment.

Yes - Akechi was extremely suspicious. Though Akira had come to appreciate his company, he still was very wary of the supposed boy detective. He was now pretending to like him in order to gain his trust - something that he sensed Akechi was doing as well.

If Akechi was thinking this through the same way he was, perhaps he would come to the same conclusion - neither of them truly trusted the other, and they were both working against each other with this power. It was a furious, intense game of wits, and neither boy had any clue who was winning. How, Akira wondered, would it end?

"Not at all," Akira falsely affirmed, as convincingly as he could, "I am simply surprised that you, being the ace detective that you are, have not deduced any possible suspects."

"I see," Akechi said. He smiled warmly, and stood up. "Akira, my friend - if I discover any leads, I promise you, you will be the first to know after my colleagues within the police. After all, if the Phantom Thieves are able to expose this culprit themselves, then even while I cannot catch them it may certainly make my job easier."

Akechi stood up, and looked at his coffee. "Ah, it appears I have not finished drinking this," he noted. "I will simply have to take it with me." He stood up, and turned to leave the store. "Goodbye for now, Akira. I will see you again soon, I am sure. There are many puzzles left unsolved…"

Akechi left the store. "Wait!" Akira called. "Where - and how - are you taking that coffee?!"

But he was already gone.

* * *

 **XX/XX/20XX**

"What in the world did the police inject into you?!" Niijima Sae yelled. Akira's vision went dark…

…

…

 _Kurusu Akira! Wake up!_

…

…

"We've arrived at your most recent target -

…

"Niijima Sae. Myself."

Sae slid the calling card onto the table… she was shaking with fear.

"Explain everything, please. Am I to be - did you - did you change me?"

Akira was silent.

Sae was quietly terrified. Her breathing slowed steadily, and her heart felt like it might fall out of her chest.

She wondered, _What - what would a change of heart feel like? Would it be painful? Would it - it - or what if - What if he's lying… about what he did to Okumura?_

 _What if I'm a dead woman walking?_

* * *

The morning of 10/13/2016, Akira received a message from Haru.

 **Haru:** Akira…  
 **Haru:** My apologies for messaging you so early in the morning.  
 **Haru:** Things have calmed down at home…  
 **Haru:** I - I wonder. I trust you - I thought about it, and I think you and the others meant no harm, but… I just can't -

Akira was unsure how to reply.

 **Haru:** Sorry… this is a lot to take in at this hour…  
 **Haru:** Can we meet at the hideout today?  
 **Akira:** Sure. I'll let everyone know.  
 **Haru:** Okay… I'll see you all there.

* * *

"I'm sorry I'm late," said Haru. "It's been… difficult…"

"My condolences." Makoto spoke with an earnest tone of empathy.

"I have a question," Haru looked at them apprehensively, a dead serious expression etched upon her face. "Did you target the principal?"

Everyone looked surprised and confused. "Our principal?! Shujin's? Wha - what makes you think that?" Akira wondered.

"The authorities visited my home in search of evidence," Haru explained. "While they were there, I overheard someone telling a public prosecutor about a calling card in the principal's office. It was a woman named - Niijima-san."

Makoto's face fell. "Sis…" she whispered quietly. Akira wanted to hug Makoto close and comfort her, but he restrained himself. Now was not the time.

"Did you do - did you -" everyone looked at Haru expectantly. She breathed hard, then turned and said, in a forceful and interrogatory tone: "Did you kill him? Did you make him have a mental shutdown?!"

Everyone nearly jumped in surprise. Then, they all started yelling at once.

"WHAT?!" Ryuji was appalled. "You - are you accusin' us? Just like everyone else?!"

"That couldn't be!" Morgana mewed indignantly. "I - no - I'm sure - I'm sure! We only took the Treasure - nothing else!"

"Haru!" Ann said. "We - we - we didn't trick you into killing your father! You saw what happened! We were as confused as you were!"

"I am above such senseless acts as cold-blooded murder!" Yusuke protested. "How could you -"

"We - we didn't!" Makoto nearly cried. "I can't imagine ever having any - is this what Sis thinks?" She placed her face in her hands and sobbed. "Sis…"

Futaba said nothing, but she was clearly unnerved.

"Haru," Akira said, slowly, carefully, kindly - "We couldn't have. We would never be able to live with ourselves if we became killers. We're just not those kind of people. We would never lie to you. Please believe us."

Haru's face was pale. It seemed she was sorry she'd said anything.

"Are you still doubtful of us?" Akira asked.

Haru paused a moment, then said - "No. No, I don't think so. I was in a lot of emotional turmoil when I said… what I did. I'm sorry. I don't think you deceived me or that you are the ones behind the mental shutdowns." She took a deep, cautious breath. "Thank you for answering my question…"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, all looking at Haru again. Makoto wiped tears from her face. "Thank you, Haru," said Ann. "I feel better knowing that."

* * *

"Are you tired?"

It was 10/16/2016, the day before exams. Akira was studying with Makoto in the library. He had been doing so for a good few hours. She should have been the one asking him that, but instead, it was her own concentration that was waning. "Yes…" she said. "I'm not feeling very okay. Can we go to Leblanc?"

Upon arriving at Leblanc, the first thing Makoto did was lie down in one of the booths and close her eyes. "I…" she said slowly, "I miss my sister as she was."

"I've been thinking, if you want to change her heart - perhaps we can do it by ourselves?" Akira suggested. "Just the two of us, in secret, without the others."

Makoto shook her head weakly. "No… no, we can't. That would be too dangerous. I don't want you to get yourself hurt for my sake."

"I understand," Akira said kindly. "I don't want you to get hurt either…" he offered her a cup of coffee.

"mm mm," Makoto murmured negatively, her eyes barely opening, holding out her exposed palm to signal refusal of the drink. "I don't need coffee…"

"What do you need?" Akira wondered, deciding to drink the coffee himself.

"You, Akira… come here… please?"

Akira set aside the coffee and moved to sit next to Makoto, who adjusted her position to place her head in his lap.

"Akira?"

"Yes, Queen?" Makoto smiled softly at being called by her thief name.

"Joker… let's… stay here…"

"Sojiro will find us."

"Upstairs…"

"Fine by me." Akira got up and carried Makoto. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders firmly and buried her face in his chest…

"I think… I think I may want to tell the others… soon… but not now"

"About?" Akira sat on his bed and let Makoto down into his lap, gently stroking her face and hair.

"My sister…" Makoto groaned softly. "I don't want to let it be anymore. I don't want to let my sister… ruin herself… ruin me… you… all of us - but… it's difficult… what would I say… how?"

"I can help you."

Makoto smiled and murmured what sounded like a grateful "thank you."

"When?"

"When… when I'm ready… I'll tell you…"

"We can do it anytime."

* * *

 **10/20/2016**

Makoto had been thinking about it for awhile now. Despite her sleepy vow to Akira that she would tell the team about her sister's Palace, she was having second thoughts. She'd told Akira as much, and he didn't mind, but -

She was scared. What if Sae found out? What if Sae's change of heart went bad? Or - or if she was targeted and killed, the same as Okumura. And - what would Sae think? Would she think she was going to be killed? Or what if she knew…

"She can't know… that I'm one of them…"

The door opened and closed.

"I'm home," said Sae. She sounded exhausted, like she had had a very long, draining day… as usual.

"Hi Sis," Makoto called out. "Should I warm up dinner for you?"

"No, it's okay."

"How about a bath?"

"No need," Sae said curtly, entering the room. "I only came home to get a change of clothes."

"Are you going to stay at work then?" Makoto inquired nervously. _Sis… it's the middle of the night… why? What's so important now?_

Sae hesitated to speak.

"I've been entrusted with a very important task."

"You look awful…"

"As an adult, there are times when failure is not tolerated. It will be all over for me if I can't win this!"

"But if you were to collapse from exhaustion -"

But Sae was having none of it. "This is my one chance to get a promotion!" she shouted forcefully. Makoto recoiled at her tone.

Sae looked regretful at having raised her voice. "I heard detectives are coming to school… that must make it difficult to focus on your studies. Don't worry. It'll all be over soon."

 _Over… ?_

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to catch the Phantom Thieves myself."

 _ **!** but - Why - Sis!_

"Is that the important task you mentioned?" Makoto asked, doing her best to keep her face straight. _I can't betray my true feelings…_

"It's none of your concern!" Sae said. She turned around and left without getting the change of clothes she had been seeking.

Makoto had felt so confident and comfortable with the thought when she told Akira about Sae's Palace. When Akira had held her to his chest, when she had whispered it to him… Anytime , he had said. But… but how was she supposed to tell them?!

 _I need to get over this fear… we need to change her - no, save her heart! I need to tell them… why can't I let go of this feeling of -_

"This is bad…" she whispered to herself… "I need to let everyone know!"

* * *

 _Akechi? Why was he here?!_ Thankfully, he had choked on an evidently very spicy piece of takoyaki and fled. Akira had never been more thankful for poorly made food. But - he had come to check out the venue? Really?

No, of course not. Akira knew the real reason - he was monitoring them. But he couldn't tell anyone he knew that… could he? None of his teammates would believe that Akechi was invading his dreams. It would be too much for them to swallow.

But he was coming back today, for the panel. Akira was incredibly stressed. How was he supposed to tell his team the truth about Akechi?

It was the morning of the 26th now, and Akechi was coming back today. Akira needed to stay cool, and keep his head down. They were going to talk to him. He couldn't tell anyone he knew, because he couldn't tell anyone how he knew - but this was not going to play out well.

* * *

"I'm sure you all would've been happier to have a singer or a mascot appear, wouldn't you say?" Everyone in the audience of the festival panel laughed. "You're so funny, Akechi-kun!" someone called out from the audience. Akira watched from the balcony with Ryuji, Ann, and Yusuke. He was already irked enough by Akechi's facade, but he was even more bothered seeing people falling for it.

"How much do you think he knows?" Ann wondered.

"Probably quite a bit," Akira said. "He may not have evidence, though. Let's hope we don't have to worry…"

"This is unsettling," Yusuke commented. "He talks of how the Phantom Thieves are dangerous - yet says they haven't committed any murders. What is his true agenda here?"

"Come on Makoto," Ryuji whispered (for a change), "you gotta get it out of him!"

Makoto asked Akechi a number of questions about his investigation. The progress, the murders, their guilt or innocence - all expected stuff. They had talked for a good short while before Akechi made a critical comment which caught Akira's attention: "If the Phantom Thieves are the ones I know of, I can't imagine they would possibly kill anyone."

 _WHAT?!_ Akira was dumbfounded. _I'm perfectly aware you know who we are - but you're going to tell people here? Akechi! You have no evidence! We made an agreement -_

He felt violated somehow. Even though he hadn't exactly trusted Akechi fully, he had considered that distrust an inescapable condition of their game, a game of wits, of mystery, driven by how little they knew for certain about one another. Akira had agreed to attempt to evade Akechi, Akechi had agreed to attempt to catch him. Akira had respected that agreement. He hadn't even told his teammates of it.

Akechi was now saying to an entire roomful of people that he knew who they were, with nothing on which to base that claim except his own personal knowledge. He was breaking the rules of their game… He was pulling the false shogi piece out of his pocket.

"Your comment just now - does that mean the police have identified who they are?"

"Oh no, the police haven't gotten that far yet. But I have made my own personal conclusion regarding their true identities."

The audience murmured excitedly. Meanwhile, the Phantom Thieves were panicking. Ryuji, Ann, and Yusuke expressed confusion and disbelief. Down below, Haru and Futaba, sitting in the audience together, exchanged frenzied whispers. Akira, meanwhile, was panicking as well - but for a completely different reason.

Onstage, Makoto kept her cool, but Akira had known her well and long enough to know that inside, she was freaking out. Akechi turned his attention to her curiously. "Are you going to ask who they are?"

"It may have repercussions on the investigation. Are you sure you can share that with us?" Makoto said.

"Oh, it's only my personal opinion. Announcing that here wouldn't pose a problem. The identities of the Phantom Thieves are -"

 _ **RING RING**_

 _Saved by the bell,_ Akira mused. _How convenient… too convenient._

"Ah, I apologize for the interruption, but I can't turn my phone off due to my job," Akechi told the audience. "Would you mind if I step away for about ten minutes?"

"Very well," Makoto said, "I'm terribly sorry, but we'll be taking a break. The panel will resume in ten minutes, everyone!"

"Please don't troll me online for this interruption, okay?"

As the audience alternatively complained and chattered, Akechi walked over and whispered something to Makoto. "What the hell is going on?!" Ryuji groaned.

"I think we're in trouble," Ann said. "He's going to do something to us…"

Their phones all buzzed.

 **Makoto:** Akechi wants us to grant him an audience. Meet in the PE faculty office.

* * *

"What do you want to talk about?" Makoto said apprehensively. In response, Akechi pulled out three printed photographs of Yusuke and Ann, each one progressively showing more of them phasing out of existence in front of Okumura's corporate headquarters. Traveling to the Metaverse…

 _You - you - YOU -_ Akira was utterly dumbfounded. _**FUCK YOU, AKECHI!**_

Not only had Akechi publicly announced that he knew the identities of the Phantom Thieves, he had not told Akira there was any proof of it! This was supposed to be a fair, honest challenge! Akechi had been hanging onto these for a month? And never told him? How was Akira supposed to make a move, if he couldn't see where all the pieces were on the board?

Akira was furious. What little trust he had in Akechi's ethics had now vanished. _Very well, Mr. Ace Detective. If you don't play fair, then neither will I._

"All of you can go to that other world, yes?" Akechi continued. Akira snapped out of his angry reverie - he hadn't been paying attention the last couple moments.

"What world?" Akira asked, pretending not to know, keeping his temperament under control carefully.

 _You taught me, Akechi, how to hide myself,_ Akira said. _You will never catch me. I will anticipate your every move. I will win your game. I will have the last play._

"You know what world," Akechi insisted. "It's because of those mysterious powers, isn't it?"

Akechi pulled out his phone and showed it to them - the Metanav was there. "I found out about that world a month ago… this had been installed onto my phone without my knowledge."

"Dude, it's the Nav…" Ryuji was shocked.

 _Bullshit!_ Akira thought. _You've been in my dreams AND the Metaverse, chasing us, for the better part of the year! Don't think you can get away with feeding my teammates some dumb story and not expect me to say anything!_

But that was exactly what the boy did. Akira played along, but inside he was freaking out. Akechi had the upper hand - he knew full well that Akira had no evidence on which to base any claims of his untrustworthiness. Did he? Akira could say that he was simply suspicious… but -

He calmed down. He was being foolish. Akechi was being foolish as well - he was underestimating this team. He was going to get outsmarted.

And all of a sudden, in the blink of an eye - Akira knew _how._

He would never see it coming.

* * *

"Hey," said Morgana. Akechi had finished talking and everyone had left. "They're going?"

Akira simply stood and looked at Morgana knowingly, and urgently. Morgana shared the same intuition. "You realized it too, then," he said.

"It was our conversation about pancakes, right?"

* * *

 _ **6/9/2016**_

 _ **A charismatic young boy with a clean brown suit, black gloves, and a suitcase with an "A" emblem intrudes upon one of their conversations.**_

 _ **Akechi:** Oh, am I mistaken? I thought I heard something about delicious pancakes._

 _ **Akechi laughs nonchalantly.**_

 _ **Akechi:** No matter. Well, see you tomorrow._

* * *

 _ **Niijima Sae is flabbergasted by Kususu Akira's latest statement.**_

 _ **Niijima Sae:** What was so important about pancakes?_  
 _ **  
**Kurusu Akira: …_

* * *

 _ **"I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU!"**_ Akira shouted.

"WHAT?!" Makoto's voice sounded unusually high all of a sudden.

 _"Now THIS is drama! A boy caught in the throes of bittersweet youth! A stunning confession of love!"_

* * *

Makoto and Akira had now escaped to the rooftop.

"This may be a little rude to say, but you're surprisingly reliable in a pinch. My sister if I get married, my husband should be someone dependable like that -" Makoto gasped. "Oh, um… uh… forget what I just said!"

Akira smiled gently. "Could you say that again?"

"Oh… um… urrrgh!"

Akira laughed. "I'm sorry, never mind that."

"It's not that I don't want to… uh… think about it… it's just -"

"Seriously, don't worry about it. Anyway, about Akechi…"

"What about him?"

"He doesn't seem right. Morgana and I had a chat…" He told Makoto all about the pancakes.

"Oh," said Makoto. "Yeah, I thought there was something off about him too. Everything he said."

"Keep a close eye on him, alright, Makoto?"

She nodded. "I will do just that."

"Oh, and by the way -"

She handed him a small plain white box labeled "MAKOTO DONUTS." Based on the smell, the contents were aromatically delectable.

"'Makoto Donuts' - Like, your special donuts? For me? That's adorable!" Akira said. He opened the box and peeked inside. "These look delicious! Thank you so much!"

"I… I wouldn't say… 'special' donuts," Makoto told him, "I'm not a very experienced pastry making person."

"Don't worry," Akira grinned at her sweetly. "You made them, so I'm certain they're incredible."

"I hope you enjoy them."

* * *

Akira was tired…

Sojiro had found him out…

What was going to happen?

He fell asleep…

* * *

"I apologize for lying to your friends," Akechi said regrettably. "But I couldn't explain our dreams, now could I? If I told them I'd known about you all this long, it would have incited more questions."

"..."

Akira wasn't certain how to respond without giving away his position…

"We agreed to keep this between us, didn't we? Besides, they would never believe you if you told them I had intruded upon your dream world."

Why did Akira believe this? Was it really true? Were his teammates so closed-minded that after witnessing a world of Palaces based on people's hearts that they would refuse to consider the possibility that dreams could be invaded, used against people, mined for information?

But he decided it was necessary to play along with Akechi for now. "You're right," he said. "It wouldn't do us any good to tell them." Akira maintained his usual pleasant facade - same as Akechi. He couldn't know anything was up - it would be the same as usual.

* * *

10/28/2016 in Leblanc.

"I'll be blunt," Akechi said. "I'm thinking of triggering a change of heart in Sae-san. I've already discovered that she has a Palace."

Makoto shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying to hide her shock. What? He knows? She was not happy with this turn of events… she had wanted to change Sae's heart anyway, but like this? With Akechi?! Why was this happening to her? She wasn't ready…

 _I see._ Akira was impressed. _So this is the way you'll get us. Impressive. I wonder what your plan is, exactly. How are you going to corner us in the Metaverse?_

"My objective is to find the true culprit," Akechi explained. "I assume the same can be said for all of you as well. However, the current state of affairs is bleak…"

 _True enough._

Akechi continued on for a while longer, answering the occasional questions from the team as he went.

After Akechi concluded, Haru asked, "Why are you willing to do this, Akechi-kun? Why do you seek justice?"

"I want to know that too," Akira seconded. "Ann was sexually preyed upon by a teacher. Yusuke was abused by his sensei. Ryuji was kicked off the track team and labeled a delinquent. Futaba was lied to about her mother's death. Makoto's father died fighting for justice. Haru was used as a tool by her father to attain power and influence, and I…" Akira sighed.

"I was charged for a crime I didn't commit, all at the whim of some arrogant shithead with connections to the police. We all have reasons why we're doing this. We were all wronged by by an unjust society, all because of a bunch of assholes. We all have stories. Why don't you tell us yours?"

"I suppose that is a reasonable request," Akechi agreed. "Very well…"

"When I was a small child, my father killed my mother. They had… differences…. between them. I don't know exactly what. My mother was terribly depressed. She drunk all the time, and couldn't care for me very much, but she was the only one willing to raise me - she was all I had. When she died, my father refused custody of me, and I was handed over to a foster home."

"Dude…" Ryuji looked genuinely sorry.

"The evidence surrounding the investigation of her death was laced with red tape by some unknown person or group, obviously one with political sway," Akechi continued. "Her death was labeled a suicide, my father disappeared, and he never faced justice. I lived a miserable life - until I realized how good I was at making deductions."

Akechi wore a melancholy expression. "By sheer luck, I was granted audience with a man who had… connections, and he gave me a job as his private detective, solving personal cases for him. Before long, I earned attention from another person involved in one such case, and he offered me another job with the SIU. I found myself in a real investigation unit, being labeled a prodigy - a prince - an ace - a hero - a number of other distinguished titles.

"But I didn't truly know why I was doing this. It wasn't until I solved a case the police had struggled with, eerily similar to mine - it was quite a shock. A woman's body had been found buried in a ditch on the side of the road, with nothing on or near the scene to trace back to a perpetrator. Her child had been abandoned at a gas station several miles away. Professional detectives struggled to solve the mystery, but using my deductive skills, I uncovered the culprit - her husband - with ease.

"I then realized, when reflecting upon the similarities between this case and the incident which placed me into a life of misery, that I wanted to solve cases like that. Cases that placed unjustly innocent people in harm's way. I began to solve bigger, and bigger mysteries. Before long, I became the famous Ace Detective you see today."

Akechi straightened his tie. "But even as my life has taken a great turn for the better - I cannot forget the day my mother died. That's why I keep going. I can't make my father atone for his crimes, but I can prevent others like him - such sickening human beings - from walking the streets freely. And that," he concluded, "is why I am so bent on upholding justice in this world."

"Doesn't he remind you of us… ?" Ann wondered aloud.

"So we're similar, hm?" Akechi mused. "I guess that's why I thought I could ask this of you all. So, what do you say?" He turned to Akira. "Won't you cooperate with me on the mission to change Sae-san's heart?"

Akira considered this carefully. It certainly didn't sound like a lie, but it didn't sound like the full truth, either. And it wasn't like there was a choice - so he held out his hand welcomingly. "Thank you, Akechi, for telling us that," he said, smiling warmly. "You're one of us now."

And despite all that was between them… he wasn't sure, but Akechi's story had made him feel sympathetic, even if it wasn't entirely true. His feelings appeared genuine. Perhaps - perhaps Akira really meant it.

* * *

Makoto was quite shaken. _I have to tell them now…_

"I never brought it up… but the reason I joined the Phantom Thieves is… is… because I wanted to change my sister's heart."

Makoto felt her face melting, her eyes moistening. There it is… the cat's out of the bag. "I was hoping it's never come to pass. I've also known for quite some time that she has Palace."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ann asked.

 _A whole host of reasons…_ But Makoto only gave one.

"I - it was too selfish."

"Why don't we try going there now to scope the place out?" Akechi suggested. "A lot of this will be new to me, so I'd like to get myself accustomed to it too."

 _Today?! I - I don't. Whatever horrors lie in that place - I can't take it today. But how am I supposed to say that… Urrrgh, Akechi was never very tactful._

"I'm sorry. I actually have plans today…"

Everyone looked at Makoto with looks of either confusion, concern, or some mix of the two. "I see," Akechi replied, "that's unfortunate."

"Are you going to tell your sister?" Haru asked.

"Of course not… it's just…"

"Mako-chan…"

"You seem awfully evasive today," Yusuke pointed out, "Is something the matter?"

"I - I just can't today," Makoto was distraught.

"Let's call it a day then," Akechi suggested, "and resume this tomorrow."

 _Oh thank goodness…_

"I'm sorry, everyone."

* * *

"You… you told them…" Akira swallowed, looking at Makoto with deep empathy. "Do you want to talk?"

"I can't," Makoto told him. "I'm sorry, Akira… I'm just not feeling good. I'll see you tomorrow."

Akechi emerged out of the toilet just as everyone else had left - which Akira considered odd, as he had not heard it flush. _Akechi isn't even trying anymore… he thinks he's just as good as won this game._

"Isn't it wonderful?" Akechi said, "strange and baffling, that such a small place in which you have only lived for such a brief period of your life became the center of your dream world?" Akechi smiled at Akira. "Leblanc must hold a special place in your heart. You must have made many impactful memories here in a very short time…"

"I suppose that's true." Akira looked around the store pensively. Yes… Akechi raised a valid issue. Why, oh why, was this place of all places where all his dreams began and ended?

It was not a question that Akira had difficulty answering. "After all… this is my home. This is where I live, eat curry, have coffee, meet my friends. My castle, in a way."

"Your castle? As in, you are the king of this place? I thought you were above such self-centered thoughts." Akechi laughed.

"Not in that sense," Akira clarified. "It's a fortress - a safe place of sanctuary. That's why my dreams are all centered around an unwanted guest entering - my worst fear, besides time, is that someone with ill intent will breach my sanctuary."

"I see…" Akechi said. "That certainly makes sense. Anyway, I stayed because I wished to return this." He pulled out a familiar coffee cup. It was the one Akechi had taken with him out of Akira's dream. "This didn't technically exist in this world before I took it out with me - but it belongs here. You should keep it."

"No, Akechi," Akira refused, gently smiling. "You keep it."

Akechi had not been expecting this. "Are you sure?"

"Please," Akira said, "We have plenty of coffee cups here - we do not need another. Consider it a souvenir - a symbol of our friendship."

"I see. In that case," Akechi put it back in his bag.

"Thank you, Akira, for our friendship."

"You're welcome."

The two boys shook hands earnestly, and Akechi departed.

Akira had not been lying to Akechi. Leblanc was his castle. But not just Leblanc - Shujin, Shibuya, the church, the arcade, inside Morgana's bus form. In fact, anywhere except where he fought Shadows in the Metaverse. Anywhere where he grew his bonds, where he found himself… home.

After half a year of living here, Tokyo was his home - more his home than his hometown had ever been. He had found his home, within his prison, and he was grateful to all the people who had helped him find it.

The true culprit had intruded upon his sanctuary. And it was not just he who was being threatened. Akira was going to protect his home - and his friends. He was going to defend their castle.

* * *

"We should probably get going soon," said Akechi. "After all, people like us loitering here is quite unnatural. Well then..." He retrieved his phone and was about to open the Metanav, when all of a sudden Futaba gasped. "That's -"

"Huh? What about my smartphone?"

She snatched it from him excitedly and looked at it like an early Christmas present. Akechi yelped in surprise.

"That's the model I wanted! You're so lucky… !" Futaba pretended to be impressed with it.

Everyone groaned. "I'm sorry…" Ann said apologetically, "until recently, Futaba was a… well…"

"It's okay, Sae-san told me the gist," Akechi said pleasantly while Futaba continued staring at his phone with wide eyes.

While Futaba looked at his phone, Akechi discussed with the team their plan for maintaining communication.

"Well then… I hope we get along," Akechi said, and Futaba handed back his phone, beaming at him. "You've got good personality AND good looks? Talk about cheating!"

As Akira and the team had their phones open, figuring out the Palace keywords, Futaba discreetly sent Akira a text.

 **Futaba:** His phone sucks! It's very archaic and outdated; I wouldn't recommend it. He also doesn't look all that great.

Akira chuckled to himself. Akechi had indeed cheated at their game, but now was Akira's turn - and the first stage of his defense was underway.

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (Published on AO3 5/29/2017):**_ Don't have a lot to say today. Very proud of all this.

When Okumura's Shadow got shot, that was the most heart-pounding moment of the game for me - It was pretty terrifying to think of what all would happen when they found out. I was particularly scared of how Haru would react, that she would turn on the team or something. Except, while the implication was there, nothing really happened like that. I decided to make it a bit more explicit.

About Akechi's story - I thought it would be cool if he made something up about his motives to get on their good side. Yes, I know Akechi's mom killed herself. He's just saying his dad killed her cause that's what he'd like to believe. As for the rest of it, well, I tried my best to make it sound like he was twisting the truth to his advantage. Feel free to interpret it all however.


	13. The Castle's Defense

_**Original Opening Note (Published on AO3 5/30/2017):**_ I had a REALLY DAMN BAD TIME sorting through the continuity of the plan. First I was like, okay, plot hole, Futaba wiretapping. Can't they hear Shido on the phone? I asked my dad how wiretapping works and concluded that Futaba's method was plausible in the real world and figured a way around that. Then, the plan. Who did what in which world first? How did they know which would happen first? Why were they so confident in Akira?

I'm sure I missed some marks in explaining some stuff, but my main goal here was to provide insight and make things a bit more clear for people who didn't follow the explanation in the source material. While also making it fun for those who did. Anyway, whether or not I succeeded is up to you. What a headache, but goddamn it I am proud of myself for having thought all this out.

but of course it's never that simple...

* * *

It was 10/30/2016. Akira had a text from Futaba.

 **Futaba:** There's something we need to talk about - without Akechi.  
 **Futaba:** Can you get everyone together today?

Akira grinned. Futaba had found something out from that bug she had planted on Akechi's phone. Soon, they would be able to make a plan.

 **Akira:** Yeah, I'll call everyone individually.  
 **Futaba:** Awesome. Make sure he's not anywhere near Leblanc when we meet.  
 **Akira:** Will do.

* * *

"We could say he stole the guard's gun and committed suicide during his imprisonment… how about that?" Akechi's voice said casually.

 _Excellent,_ responded a mysterious, heavily processed voice. _That shall do splendidly. The righteous Phantom Thieves shall be torn apart._

"Yes," Akechi's voice went on. "The guard will be one of ours - but we'll have to kill him afterwards, to eliminate the evidence. And thus, the dangerous criminal responsible for the mass mental shutdowns shall end his own life…"

 _Good,_ the unknown voice said. _Please contact me again when you have carried this out. Do not disappoint me._

Futaba paused the recording.

Everyone was absolutely shocked. _I'm going to be arrested,_ Akira thought, incredulous, _and headshot by Akechi while in police custody? If there's anything more messed up than this…_ He'd known Akechi was shady. But that he would kill him?

"This is on a completely different level!" Ryuji exclaimed in disbelief.

"I had my reservations about Akechi," Yusuke told them, "but to think he was planning this… I now understand what it means to feel a chill down my spine."

"He… he killed Father…" Haru was stricken with horror.

"He's… someone like that… inside my sister's heart?!" Makoto was utterly shocked.

 _I can't keep this from them any longer…_ "There's something else I should tell you all," Akira said.

Everyone looked at Akira curiously. "Akechi…" he deliberated a moment, but there was no turning away from the truth. "Akechi had been in my dreams."

"What the hell d'you mean?!" Ryuji yelled.

"He has some kind of special power," he explained, "that allows him to enter my dream world."

No one seemed to comprehend.

"You… you have a Palace?" Ann was confused. "How can that be?"

"No! I - it's hard to explain. There's the dream world, and then there's the cognitive world… the cognitive world is another world… the dream world is just, well, my thoughts. Like, the cognitive world reflects one's heart, from outside of them, and one's heart reflects the cognitive world… The dream world is entirely self-contained."

Morgana, much to Akira's surprise, seemed to understand, and he nodded. "I knew there was something weird going on," he said. "You kept muttering in your sleep about coffee and uttering bizarre challenges to unseen people. Akechi had been using his powers to enter your dream world?"

Akira nodded back in reply to confirm. "Makes sense," Morgana said. "I saw the way Akechi looked at you these past few months. I don't think he could've have known so much about us otherwise."

"Yes. Akechi essentially interrupts my dreams and inserts himself into the dream world. He's known that we were the Phantom Thieves for months - but he had no evidence," Akira went on. "I challenged Akechi to catch me, and he challenged me to elude him. Meeting in the dreams, we spoke under a sort of truce. He assured me he would eventually catch me, but even so… he acted like a friend."

The team was incredibly stupefied at that statement. "Your… friend?!" Makoto said, astounded that Akira would say such a thing.

"Well, it wasn't as if I trusted him… more like… frenemies. His exact words were 'we have jobs.' He acted like he didn't hold anything personal against me - even commended me on my actions…"

"Why are you telling us all this only now?!" Ann yelled at him. She slapped Akira in the face. "You should have said something sooner!"

"I - I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd believe me. And Akechi and I agreed to keep it to ourselves," Akira said apologetically. "I know it was foolish… to doubt you all, or to trust Akechi, even for a second…"

"Well, I'm glad you came to your senses and told us," said Yusuke. "Please keep us posted if he enters your dreams again."

"So he's been manipulating you and stalking us for months… and not only was he trying to frame us," Makoto said in disgust, "but he was the true culprit behind the mental shutdowns."

We have to prevent this!" Morgana determined, and everyone unanimously expressed their agreement. "... but how?"

"Can't we just use the recording as proof?!" Ryuji asked. "Ain't that enough?!"

"No," Makoto explained, "You heard that garbled voice, right? Akechi is but a tool. His orders come from someone else - a greater enemy. Someone with great power and authority. Someone fiendish enough that they would ordering and arranging the conditions for a young boy to commit such an awful crime, in a police station no less…"

 _The game goes deeper than I thought._ "We need to learn who this person is," Akira said, "and strike back against them!"

"But how can we accomplish that?" Haru wondered.

"That'll be hard," Futaba said, "their voice is processed with some sort of modulator, and Akechi never refers to them by name."

"We'll have to make to make Akechi say it," said Yusuke, "but once we do, this mastermind will most likely eliminate us."

"He'll do that anyway," said Makoto. "But he hasn't yet, because we're an easy scapegoat - if he realizes that isn't possible any longer, he may opt to kill us immediately."

The team mulled it over for a long time. It was a difficult challenge. If they went with Akechi's plan, the mastermind would kill them. If they went against Akechi's plan, the mastermind would kill them. _A choice… Where do I want to move…_

He thought back to his conversation with Hifumi…

 _"Isn't it an interesting strategy? Fake the enemy out, pretend to lose, and then fight back when they're least expecting it…"_

 _"The rules of the game wouldn't permit it…"_

 _"Like, your opponent cheated - so you outsmart them. And then they think they got you -"_

"Can we outsmart them?" Akira asked. "This plan to arrest me in the Palace… can we fool them somehow?"

"Like how?" Yusuke said curiously. "As in, make them believe they won?"

"Palace…" Futaba's face brightened mischievously. "AHA!" she said triumphantly, standing up. "Yes, there is a way to do something like that! We can use the Palace!"

"What's this all of a sudden?! What do you mean?" Ann questioned, surprised at the sudden outburst.

"There's a way to outwit Akechi AND get the mastermind to lay off us so we can buy time to learn who he is!" Futaba said excitedly. She now had everyone's attention. "If Akechi wants to kill Akira… why not let him?"

Everyone was taken aback at these words.

"Wait - WHAT?" Akira nearly toppled out of his chair. "What do you mean, let him kill me?!"

"Are you crazy?!" Ryuji yelled.

"Kill you… _inside the Palace!"_

"The cognitive Akira…" Makoto realized. "Yes! Akechi will kill Sis's cognition of you, and you'll survive in the real world and make your escape! It seems that would be our only option…"

"But how?" Akira asked, "How will we trick Akechi into the Metaverse? How will we get him to reveal this enemy's name? Won't I still be inside the real police station? And won't cognitive me look different from real me?"

"After you escape," Makoto said, "we'll think of some way to capture Akechi and trick him into telling us what we need to know before defeating him. And about your cognitive self - No, I don't think so. Do you recall what Akechi said about Sis's cognitions in her Palace? He said -" Akira suddenly recalled what Makoto was talking about -

 _"'Sae-san's view of people is surprisingly undistorted.'"_ Akira and Makoto quoted simultaneously.

"Precisely," Makoto affirmed. "Sis isn't as severely deluded as our past allies who had twisted bizarre cognitions of the population. She sees people exactly as they are. So she will see you in the interrogation room exactly as you are - and her cognition of you in her Palace will appear, in the interrogation room, exactly as you are.

"We'll need to put Akechi in the Metaverse. Futaba, you've been studying technology in there, and the Metanav. What can you do about that?"

"Well…" Futaba began slowly, "he needs to be in close physical proximity with a phone. And then, it needs to activated… but none of us can be there… So how…" Futaba thought a moment, then said - "I can write an application to activate it remotely."

"That's possible?"

"It should be. I'm certain that it'll work! But, we need someone to bring it to Akechi. And the only person who can do that is - your sister!" Futaba was certain. "Your sister is our only hope. She needs to rescue Akira and get a death certificate forged to dupe the enemy."

"Forge a death certificate?!" Ann exclaimed. "How are we going to convince her to do that?"

"Only one way… it's a gamble. But I'm confident it will work in our favor." Makoto said. She turned to Akira. "You'll need to remind Sis of the justice she has abandoned."

"Remind her of her justice?" Akira was baffled. "How do I do that?"

"Akira. Think a moment," said Yusuke. "Do you remember what happened with me?"

"With me?" Haru added.

"With me," Ann agreed, with conviction.

"With me too! With all your friends!" Ryuji added. "Your shogi master, the phony fortune teller, a drunk journalist - even your homeroom teacher of all people, for cryin' out loud!"

"What did I do?"

"You rescued us," said Makoto, "Akira, you rescued all of us. We were all trapped by this society - prisoners. You broke the chains that tied us all down to this world." She smiled at him gratefully. "You're a very special person, Akira. You have the power to awaken people, to remind them of what they have lost."

"It is a unique talent of yours," Yusuke agreed. "You have, without fail, consistently freed good people from the clutches of their social obligation to ignore their problems."

"Yeah!" said Ryuji. "All I did was complain about Kamoshida - until you showed up! You got me to do something about that guy! If anyone can make Makoto's sis come to her senses - it's you, man!"

"It can only be you," Morgana told him. "Niijima Sae is a good person. Her true heart is buried under a mass of jealousy and an obligation to her job. Only you can save Niijima, Akira. Only you can convince her to assist us."

Akira was dumbfounded.

"This… this is a big responsibility… won't we change her heart anyway? Can't she just turn to our side that way… ?"

Everyone looked at Akira, confused.

"Akira," Futaba said, "if we change her heart, she might not show up to the interrogation room to begin with. Plus, if we steal her Treasure, the Palace will collapse. The cops Akechi's bringing in will die if that happens!"

"Akechi seems to be unaware of that detail," Makoto agreed. "He only saw a Palace collapse as a result of a change of heart once - Okumura's. He must have dismissed it offhand."

"Plus, Okumura's Shadow was activating a self-destruct sequence anyway," Yusuke pointed out. "Akechi may have not realized that the collapse was not his doing."

"We need to pretend to steal the Treasure," Makoto agreed. "We'll leave a fake in a nearby safe room. Akira will take it, run, get arrested - and the plan will go from there."

"I don't know if I can do this…" Akira was not confident in himself. He was supposed to make such a complicated move? How? How would he pull this off?

"Akira," Haru said. "You can do it. We know you can."

Makoto beamed at him warmly. "You have to do it. You're the only one who can. We have complete faith in you, Akira."

* * *

After the others left, Akira, Futaba and Morgana stayed behind to talk. "Hey," said Morgana, "didn't Niijima mention a special interrogation room?"

"Special room…" Futaba thought a moment… "that's right!"

"Akira's going to be taken there, and interrogated by Niijima, correct?"

"Yeah…" said Akira. "If that's the case… I'll have to 'die' in there…"

"Yes," Morgana confirmed. "We should scope it out as soon as possible. But I was thinking… what if Akechi comes before Niijima?"

"Won't work like that," Futaba said. "I hacked the SIU and police station databases. With Akechi's tip and their plan to arrest you, they've made a conveniently detailed timeline of events. Niijima and Akechi made appointments, and they're most certainly going to keep them. And since Niijima is heading the investigation while Akechi's basically a kid mascot? She'd definitely go first."

"Good work, Futaba!" Akira patted her on the back appreciatively.

* * *

On 11/10/2016, a couple days after reaching the Treasure room, the team - sans Akechi - set out to scout out the police station where the interrogation room was located.

"I don't like the look of this place," said Ann.

"Hey, Morgana," Akira asked. "How do we know Niijima has the police station and interrogation room in her cognition? If she hasn't been here yet, will this exist in the Metaverse - or will her cognition of this place be empty space or something?"

"It'll be fine," said Morgana. "She knows where it is, and at the very least she's seen photos of it. Though if she hasn't been here in person yet there may be some slight -"

"She's been here," Makoto assured them. "I'm very certain of this. Sis is extremely dedicated to this case - so she would almost certainly have scouted this place out when she had a spare moment."

"If you're so sure…" Ryuji was clearly not comfortable with the possibility that Niijima's cognition of this place might be distorted or nonexistent - and neither was anyone else.

"I hope you're correct," Yusuke said cautiously. "I personally would not like to have come all this way only to be met with a nonexistent or distorted version of the police station and interrogation room."

"I hope not as well," Haru agreed nervously. "We'll find out for ourselves soon, however - shall we get going?"

"Yep yep!" Futaba said excitedly. "Activating the Nav!"

Akira experienced a different kind of Metaverse travel, for the second time - instead of reality going out and a bizarre new world coming in, the world remained the same. They were instead met with a simple sensation of purple fuzz, and the world - as well as their clothes - remained as it was.

Thankfully, the police station did in fact exist as it ought to have in Niijima's world. The team entered, and were met with a host of cognitions of police officers, guards, investigators, and interns with rather generic faces. The cognitive beings completely ignored them and continued working.

"They aren't doing anything…" Ann noted.

"They have no reason to be acting in her cognition at the moment," Morgana pointed out. "Niijima Sae is cognitive of these people being here - but not of what they're doing at this moment in time. Couple that with the fact that she doesn't personally know any of them, or have any clue what they'd do if the Phantom Thieves waltzed in here - and you've got a whole bunch of blank slates."

"I see…" Akira said. "Hmm… so what will happen to the cognition of these people when she comes here again?"

"They'll change," Morgana explained, "once she's actually here, has seen what they are doing, and their faces are fresh in her mind."

"That certainly makes sense," Yusuke nodded.

"But what if their faces and actions don't change to match reality?" Haru whispered. "So many things could go wrong. This is scary…"

Makoto was quiet for a moment, but then said,

"It's not like we have any other option but this plan. We'll have to risk it."

"Yes," said Morgana. "Quick warning, everyone - do not speak to, touch, or otherwise make contact with any of the cognitions. There's a slight possibility that Niijima's default cognition will have them react in an unhelpful way if we do so."

Everyone nodded. "By the way," asked Ann, "do we need to use codenames for this?"

"Well, we're not in our Phantom Thief outfits. We're not seen as a threat from this place. I'd say it's safe to use our real names for a change," Morgana decided.

Akira smiled in agreement. "It would be refreshing. This is a different kind of infiltration, after all."

"All right!" Futaba said, "let's use our real names this time then!"

Tiptoeing around the cognitions, Akira carefully approached a large set of keys on the wall, and read the labels carefully.

 _TOILET_  
 _JANITOR'S CLOSET_  
 _BREAK ROOM_  
 _CELL #1 - 5_  
 _CELL #5 - 10_  
 _CELL #10 - 15_

There were way too many cells. Akira kept going…

 _CELL #65 - 70_  
 _ATTIC_  
 _PANTRY_  
 _SERGEANT'S OFFICE_  
 _UPSTAIRS INTERROGATION ROOMS_  
 _DOWNSTAIRS INTERROGATION ROOMS_  
 _UNDERGROUND INTERROGATION ROOMS_

"I found it!" Akira slipped the key off the ring. "Let's go down and check it out."

"Hm," Haru mused, "This is supposed to be a special, secret interrogation room. Why is the key for it here, among all the other regular keys for things like the toilet and the closet?"

"Her cognition?" Futaba suggested.

"That must be it," Morgana agreed. "Since Niijima isn't in charge of the keys and doesn't know where they actually are, and likely hasn't thought about it much, her cognition must be that the key for that room is with all the other keys. I guess it doesn't matter - makes it easier for us anyways!"

"This is possibly the easiest infiltration we've ever undertaken," commented Yusuke, "in preparation for the most challenging operation we've ever planned to pull off."

"Well, I'm SO down with this!" Ryuji said excitedly. "We don't gotta solve any traps or nothin'! This is gonna be great!"

The team went downstairs to the basement of the police station, where they saw a conspicuously large, heavily secured door. "Wait," said Makoto, "that door has bars on it and all… but only requires one easily located key?"

"I guess?" Akira wondered. He turned the key in the lock, and it promptly opened up. "Must be related to your sister not knowing anything about the keys or doors."

"I guess so…" Makoto decided, "ah well. Let's keep going." They proceeded down the stairs and kept on moving, until they reached another door.

"An elevator… hm! They're really serious about this." Futaba hit the button. There was a pleasant ding and it promptly opened. They all cautiously entered, and Akira pressed the button for the "Interrogation" floor - but nothing happened. The button did not maintain its light.

"It won't go!" he said in surprise.

"Hmm," Yusuke murmured, "what is that black thing there?"

"Black thing?"

"Yes, that black square with the tiny light bulb."

Akira took a look and observed what Yusuke was pointing to. A small black… "A keycard reader…"

"Sis must have seen a guard use his keycard here," Makoto theorized. "But if the ease of finding a key is anything to go by, we shouldn't have a difficult time finding a keycard…"

"But we have to walk all the way back up and down again…" Ryuji groaned. "Do we really gotta do that?"

"Hmm…" Morgana wondered, "there may be a way to speed this up." Everyone looked at him curiously. "All Niijima saw was someone using an ID card, right? She didn't necessarily see what the ID card looked like, or form any conscious conclusions regarding what sort of ID card. She likely just thought, 'ID card…'"

Morgana's eyes lit up. "Akira! Do you have your school ID on you?"

"Are you saying…" Akira was stunned by the audacity of the thought.

"It seems so…" Makoto came to the same conclusion.

"Let's try it!" Ann agreed enthusiastically. Akira pulled his Shujin Academy ID out of his pocket and placed it against the reader. It beeped, and then he pressed the button. To everyone's pleasant surprise, the elevator began to move. "Whoa," said Ryuji, "I can't believe that actually worked!"

"Muhahaha!" Morgana mewed mischievously. "All right, we made it. Let's go in!"

The underground interrogation rooms and the corridor in wished they were housed were both stark, pale, dark and surprisingly clean. Akira was stunned by the tactlessness of their appearance. "What an odd minimalist aesthetic," Yusuke mused. "The hallway is rather narrow, however."

"Out of Metaverse…" Akira murmured, pressing the Metanav app button to take the team out of Sae's Palace. They were sent back to reality - which appeared entirely the same. "And back into Metaverse." Akira navigated them back in, and nothing changed. "There we go - this place is the same in both worlds. It should be alright."

"Hmm…" Makoto was thoughtful. "This'll be quite a risk to take. We have no choice but to take the opportunity..."

"I think it'll work," Futaba said confidently. "You can't tell a thing!"

* * *

On 11/13/2016, the team went to Mementos again to change a few random hearts. Akechi went along with them, which felt odd, considering how they now knew of his true motives. "Ah," Crow said. "I suppose I could use this time to work out the culprit of the mystery novel I picked up."

"I've been reading one of those! That Inaba book," Queen replied. "I don't try to figure those out though - I just enjoy the twists, personally. It's much more fun that way."

"More fun to not know?" Crow mused, "Hm, I suppose there are merits in lacking certain knowledge about such cases."

 _Well,_ Joker considered, _you're quite an untwist, yourself._

"I once read a mystery story about a motorcycle theft," Noir said. "It wasn't much though - simply a few underwhelming paragraphs in a PSA intended to educate people on how to prevent vehicle theft. Not very exciting."

"Perhaps I should buy a motorcycle," Crow replied, "Riding in this has put me in the mood to get my own vehicle in reality."

"Queen, have you got your motorcycle license yet?" Joker asked.

"No," said Queen, "I've been quite busy, and plus, Sis is rather opposed to me riding a motorcycle - she claims it to be too dangerous."

"That sucks," Skull groaned. "I really wanted to see you ridin' one."

"Perhaps she will allow you one when we change her heart," Crow suggested. Queen's face fell, and Joker reached behind his place in the front and slapped Crow's hand reproachfully. "Oh," Crow said, "did I say something wrong? My apologies."

Still a completely insensitive idiot, Crow was. He didn't understand how sore of a subject that was, and it completely pissed Joker off. _I suppose that's to be expected from my future 'murderer.'_

"Let's change the subject." Panther proposed, and Queen breathed a grateful sigh in relief. "When you go shopping for the 'job' do you end up buying unrelated stuff too?"

"I guess candy and soda's still good for recoverin'," Skull determined, "so, nah, not really."

"Candy is delicious!" Oracle commented. "Don't you think so, Mona?"

"I always choke on those stupid hard candies…" Mona said. Clearly, he had not been pleased with the taste of them.

"Candies are yummy," Noir contributed cheerily. "I always so enjoy eating candy in the Metaverse. It gets my blood pumping so I experience more pleasure from destroying Shadows."

"What about other kinds of food?" Fox wondered.

"Well, I suppose I do get quite thirsty here," Haru considered. "Perhaps next time I should bring a smoothie."

"A smoothie - what kind of a drink is that?" Fox questioned.

"It's a blended combo of fresh fruit, water, and ice," Joker informed him.

"That sounds most intriguing…"

"I hear smoothies are very unhealthy in the long term," Queen noted. "There's too much sugar in the fruits they use."

"But I drink smoothies every day and I'm fine!" Panther protested.

"Well, you're a special kind of overweight," said Skull. "You'd just be a lot more thin if you didn't eat so much."

"Wha - HOW DARE YOU!"

"Hey, let's not fight back there, you two," Joker said, "or else Queen and I will turn this car around!"

"You may want to turn it around anyway," Fox said… "I heard something."

There was an ominous rattling chain noise.

"What?" Joker hadn't been paying attention.

"Fox, what did you hear?" Queen asked.

"An ominous rattling -"

"Oh my, what is that creature?" Crow wondered. "It's wearing a funny bag for a face. It reminds me of that living scarecrow from the fantasy story I once read as a child."

Oracle freaked. "Queen! GAS! NOW!"

"AHHHHHH!" the whole team, minus Crow, who looked confused, all screamed.

"What are you all yelling about - ah! We're going very fast all of a sudden."

"IT'S THAT MONSTER!" Panther yelled. "IT'S GOING TO KILL US ALL!"

"I see…" Crow was disturbingly amused.

"No!" Queen said. "We got too involved in our chats again - AHHHHHH -" she let out a bloodcurdling scream. The Reaper was right in front of them, and it looked… it looked…

"Hold up," Joker said suddenly. "Queen, stop Mona!"

"What?"

"Just do it!"

Queen stopped reluctantly. "Joker, are you trying to get us killed?!"

"I don't think it's going to hurt us," Crow observed. "It appears to be sick."

"SICK?!" Everyone yelled in disbelief. "That thing gets sick?" Skull said, incredulously.

"It… appears Crow is correct…" Fox determined.

The Reaper was a deep shade of purple and looked rather uninterested in fighting. "Whoa," Mona said, "that's right - it's flu season! To think it would get that thing too…"

"I think that means we could defeat him…" Panther realized.

"Oh…" Queen understood now. "Alright then."

"Let's go!" Noir cried. "I'll make that horrid creature beg for mercy! We'll return the favor for all the fear it has instilled in us!"

The team all got out of the Mona bus, and swiftly defeated the ailed monster. Upon doing so, Joker felt an unusual surge of power coursing through him, and he sensed that his potential had grown immensely.

"Whoa!" said Skull. "That was easy! What a wimp - we didn't do jack shit to that thing! It just… died!"

Noir cackled ecstatically. "We ruined that abomination! I'm glad we won, everyone!"

"What a strange defeat… It feels almost… anticlimactic." Fox noted.

"You were all so afraid of this Shadow," Crow recalled. "Your impression of it has changed so quickly. This is rather amusing."

"It may reappear again," Queen cautioned. "Do be careful, everyone."

* * *

It was now 10/15/2016. Futaba and Akira were in the Leblanc attic discussing the plan. She had been working hard this past week, and was very tired after having had many sleepless nights. As they talked about their brilliant plot, Morgana sat nearby, watching them earnestly.

"This app…" Akira wondered. "How will it work? How will it deliver the messages you've prepared for Niijima, and send Niijima and Akechi in and out of the Metaverse?"

"Well," Futaba said sleepily, "Niijima will come first, interrogate you, and leave. Given the closeness in time between their two scheduled chats with you, Akechi will surely be coming in about this time. She'll show him the phone, and I'll activate the app.

"As for leaving - I've done some testing. Unless the person using the app presses the button to navigate out, they're automatically returned from the Metaverse to reality when they move from, and then return to, the point at which they came in."

"I see…" said Akira, grinning.

"Now -" Futaba drew two overlapping lines on a piece of paper, and a couple of stick figures - one with a gun (Akechi), and one with a phone (Niijima Sae). She made an X to mark the midpoint where the two lines met. Then to the right, she drew a medium-sized O with a stick figure wearing glasses (Akira).

"This X is where they meet up," she said, and traced a path to it from the O. "Niijima leaves the room after interrogating you," she said, "and I -" she drew a little Alibaba caricature in the upper left corner - "will wait and listen in to their conversation. When the time is right and I hear her talking about the phone, I'll push the button."

Futaba traced Akechi's line to the O, and Niijima's line to the other side. "Akechi goes and 'kills' you," she said, "and meanwhile, Niijima keeps on going to the elevator. Now, she'll be a good distance away from where she entered, and when she physically reaches that point, my app will use your phone's gyroscope to detect her position and deploy my messages!"

"That's… clever!" Akira was impressed. "What happens next? Keep going!"

"Akechi turns around and leaves the cognitive interrogation room, while Niijima listens to my messages. She should decide to help you and turn back to the room. Now, Akechi will have reentered the real world by this time," she said, "and be about here," Futaba dre little further left from the X.

"This point," she indicated the Y proudly, "now this is really fun. Akechi will be in reality, Niijima in the Metaverse - and they'll walk right past each other without even knowing it! Hahahaha…" Continuing on, she traced Niijima's path on paper to the O again. "And then… your ride out of there has arrived!"

"So this is how I will be saved," Akira grinned. This was more elaborate, impressive, and incredible than any move he could have ever come up with. _What a wonderful way to cheat this game._ "Yes…" Futaba said… "and all… thanks to my hard work…" she smiled at Akira and groaned… "sleepytime…"

Futaba stumbled over to Akira's couch and collapsed. "Futaba!" Akira said. "Are you alright?" Futaba handed him his phone and was instantly out cold.

"Let's let her sleep," Morgana told him. "She hasn't slept for days while she's been getting that app ready."

* * *

It was now the early morning hours of 11/17/2016. The calling card was to be delivered tomorrow, and the big day was the day after. As was often the case, Leblanc was empty of customers. Sojiro sat behind the counter watching the TV, which was blaring constant non-news about the non-capture of the Phantom Thieves.

"Sojiro," said Akira, "I wanted to let you know something important."

"What is it, Akira?" Sojiro asked.

"I got myself in a little bit of trouble," Akira told him. Sojiro turned and looked at him sternly. "Akira… this is a Phantom Thieves thing, isn't it?"

"Don't worry," Akira assured him. "It'll be alright. I'll come back - I promise."

"Come back… ?" Sojiro looked genuinely concerned. "Akira - are you certain that whatever this is will work out for you?"

"Don't freak out when you see the news." Akira turned, leaving a baffled Sojiro in Leblanc, and left to go to Shujin.

* * *

"Akira!" Mishima was a little down. "The approval ratings on the Phan-site are lower than ever…"

"Mishima," Akira told him, "don't worry about it. We have a plan."

Mishima's face lit up with delight. "A plan… ?!" He was suddenly grinning excitedly.

"Keep telling Japan - no, hell, keep telling the world - all about the Phantom Thieves, okay?" Mishima nodded. "I'll let you in on a little secret - we're being targeted by a sinister, unknown enemy."

"Whoa!" Mishima was equal parts surprised and euphoric. "What are you going to do?"

"What do you think we're going to do?" Akira smirked. "The Phantom Thieves are going to do what they always do. We're going to fight back against this rotten society. So, Mishima, please, tell the whole world! Even if they don't want to hear it, even if they deny us - Keep the Phan-site going!"

"You got it, Akira!" Mishima pumped his fist into the air. "Good luck!"

* * *

"Kawakami-sensei!" called Akira urgently, walking up to the front of the room as class concluded. "I need to tell you something important."

Kawakami turned around. "Kurusu-kun - Akira." she said. "Is everything alright?"

"I have an important exam coming up," Akira told her.

"Oh, are you taking extra classes or something?"

"The _same_ extra class," Akira said cryptically. Kawakami immediately picked up the message. "You -"

"Yes," said Akira, and he whispered, "this is an extremely important exam. You'll hear that I got a bad grade, but trust me - I'll come back strong."

Kawakami nodded, now fully comprehending his meaning. "Don't you fail, Akira," she said. "As your teacher - I will never forgive you if you do. Good luck!"

* * *

"Akira! Did you come to play a game?" Shinya asked.

"Actually, no," Akira said. The Gigolo Arcade was mostly empty. "I wanted to tell you something. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret from the Phantom Thieves -"

Shinya sat in a chair next to him and listened attentively.

"The Phantom Thieves of Hearts are under attack," Akira told him, "but we have a plan."

"Whoa…" said Shinya, amazed. "Really?" Akira nodded enthusiastically. "You gonna be okay?"

"I'm gonna be okay," Akira grinned. "We're all gonna be okay. Everything will be totally fine. The Phantom Thieves are gonna win!"

"YEAH!" Shinya cheered. "Go get' em!"

"You bet I will, Shinya!" Akira said. "You're going to hear some crazy stuff about it, but don't worry. We're gonna be totally fine."

* * *

"Takemi-san," Akira said.

"Akira," said Takemi Tae. "Are you here to get some medicine for your thief business?"

"Not today," Akira said. "I wanted to let you know - this guinea pig is taking a sick leave."

"A sick leave, huh?" Takemi seemed amused. "What kind of sick leave?"

"A very serious sick leave," Akira told her. "You'll know when you see it. I won't be terribly sick though. Don't be worried."

Takemi narrowed her eyes at him. "All right. Well, as your doctor, I prescribe a healthy helping of good wishes, and common sense." She winked. "Don't you die on me, my little guinea pig."

Akira chuckled and nodded.

* * *

"Hey, Iwai-san," Akira greeted.

"Hey kid," Iwai Munehisa replied. He was standing behind his desk, busily cleaning up. No one else was in the shop. "How ya doin'? Here to buy some guns for the Phantom Thieves?"

"Actually, no," Akira said, "I came to tell you something."

"Got yourself in a bit of a fight with someone?"

"Not yet. But I will."

Iwai stopped cleaning and turned around, folding his arms. "How much trouble's this guy?"

"Pretty big trouble," Akira said, grinning. "But don't worry, I got a plan. The guys who're gonna land me in this trouble? You can bet this entire shop they're gonna be in trouble too."

"I wouldn't take that bet," Iwai smirked. "You're sure you'll get out of this trouble?"

"I'm absolutely certain," said Akira. "We're gonna kick ass. You'll notice it when it happens, but don't worry. Everything's going to be fine."

"Alright," Iwai said, "well, don't get yourself killed, ya got it?"

"You got it, Iwai-san."

* * *

"Oh, Akira," Yoshida Toranosuke said. "It's good to see you. Have you come to watch my speech today?"

"I wish I could stay," Akira said, "but there's actually something I need to tell you."

He looked around Shibuya station to ensure no one was listening or watching. "I have a really important speech I need to make to someone," he told Yoshia quietly. "They're a very important person, very hard to convince. I'll be in a lot of trouble."

"Oh? What are the circumstances surrounding this?"

"Don't worry about it," Akira assured him. "You're going to hear a lot of stuff about it, but I'm fine. The Phantom Thieves have a plan."

"A plan…" Yoshida was intrigued. "I look forward to seeing what comes of this, Akira."

"Thanks!"

"Don't forget to polish your speech!" Yoshida called out to Akira as he left.

* * *

"Akira - did you come to get your fortune read?"

"Why, yes I did, Chihaya," Akira grinned. Chihaya flipped her tarot cards and then gasped. "A - Akira!" she yelped in shock.

"The cards say… there is a terrible misfortune awaiting you… the day after tomorrow! The jail cell I mentioned when I first met you…"

"Don't you worry, Chihaya," Akira assured her. "I know how to oppose my fate."

"You… you do?"

"Yeah. Don't you worry. My future is secure."

"Akira…" Chihaya wore an admiring expression. "Your confidence amazes me! I hope the cards turn in your favor."

"They will," Akira said, with deep conviction in his heart that he was correct. "I'll see you again soon."

* * *

"Ohya-san!" Akira said as he entered Crossroads.

"Hiiiiiii!" Ohya was drunk as usual. "Have you come to give me more info for my articles?"

"You bet," said Akira, "the best info. And it comes from the future."

"Ah, what's going to happen in the future?" Ohya seemed very curious.

"A headline that goes something like this…" Akira thought for a moment. "'PHANTOM THIEVES SET TO DEFEAT IMPOSSIBLE ODDS! Read all about their inevitable triumph on page… seven.'"

"Page seven?" Ohya wondered. "Why page seven? That sounds like a cover story!"

"Just being humble," said Akira lightly. "Trust me, it's gonna be one hell of a scoop."

"Oh, yeah I bet!" Ohya said. "LALA! Get this kid a refill!"

"What are you talking about?" Lala Escargot wondered. "You're too drunk. He didn't even order anything to start with."

Akira laughed, got a glass of water, thanked Lala and took his leave.

* * *

"Checkmate! I win!"

But it was not Hifumi who uttered those words - it was Akira. The former was utterly stunned.

"Akira… you beat me! You beat me at my own game!"

"Yes I did," Akira said, beaming at her.

"You… you never won a game with me before!"

"You put up a good fight," Akira told her, "befitting of a queen."

At being called a queen, Hifumi smiled proudly. "Wonderful," said Hifumi. "You have been an excellent student, Akira. And… an excellent thief."

"About that…" Akira began. Hifumi suddenly looked concerned. "Oh?"

"I found a cheating opponent," Akira said, "like the one I hypothesised about before. It's sort of like a duel to the death."

Hifumi was stunned. "An opponent… of the Phantom Thieves? A duel to the death? Are you going to kill him?"

"No way," Akira laughed. "I'm a gentleman. Gentlemen don't kill. No - I'm going to cheat. They're going to think they've won, but when they're not looking… I'll creep up behind them and strike back before they ever see it coming."

"I see…" Hifumi grinned knowingly. "Best of luck to you, you wonderful thief."

"You'll hear that I lost the game," Akira warned her. "Don't believe it for a second. I'll be back before you know it!"

Hifumi laughed. "I have faith in you, Akira. When we meet again - let us play another match. I want to make sure that your victory over me wasn't a fluke."

"I graciously accept that challenge."

* * *

11/19/2016 - Today was the big day.

Akira had cheated. This was supposed to be a one-on-one duel with Akechi - but Akechi was clearly not alone. So neither was he. Akira had his team and all his friends playing now. They were all rooting for him. Not only was he going to win - they were all going to win.

 _"It's showtime!"_

* * *

"Sis!"

"That's only a Shadow," Crow was quick to point out, "Why are you so -"

 _Insensitive as usual, you bastard._

"Quiet!" Panther hissed, shutting him up - which Joker was very thankful for.

"... Sorry." Crow said. His apology carried little weight, however - Joker knew it meant absolutely nothing.

"We'll go grab the Treasure," Skull said. He and Fox rushed off to grab what Joker and all his team knew to be only the fake Treasure, stashed away in the safe room.

* * *

"Please… You have to think back to the feelings you had when you first wanted to be a prosecutor." Queen sensed little practical point in this, since Akira was going to convince Sae in reality anyway - but it somehow seemed like the right thing to say. "Think about your justice, Sis."

"My… justice…"

"Try to remember how you used to be," Queen went on.

"How… I…"

"Niijima-san… she's just like my father…" Haru said quietly. "What caused them to change like this?"

"Hm… even though their own desires were the cause, succumbing to such distorted thoughts is strange -"

* * *

"Is there another reason they don't know of?" Crow went on.

 _You're sure as hell one to talk._ Joker thought.

"We found it!" Fox called. He and Skull rushed over with the briefcase. Joker lightly smiled. Smooth.

Crow continued his act. "The investigation will be able to continue on now, and the suspicions against you will be lifted. This deal we made…" he said, turning to Akira, smiling, "was a great experience for me."

Akira suddenly sensed that perhaps Akechi meant that - even if its true meaning was not the way he had intended it to be taken. "Me too," he said kindly, shaking hands with him.

"To think that I, a detective, would act alongside the Phantom Thieves…" Crow continued, bemused.

"Well," said Akira, "yeah, was fun, eh? Back to your real work, I guess."

"Haha, yes, indeed," Akechi agreed, "and you shall end this Phantom Thieves business."

"Alright, we can't stay here any longer," Morgana said, "we gotta go!"

"All right," Makoto said, "let's go, then!"

 _Cue Futaba…_

"Huh?! Enemy readings! When did they… ?! They're gathering outside!"

 _Your line, Ryuji._

"The hell? What's goin' on?!"

 _To you, Yusuke…_

"Look at those numbers…"

 _Ann, keep it short and sweet._

"This doesn't look good…"

 _You're up, Morgana._

"We defeated the Palace ruler and even stole the Treasure, yet the Shadows are still restless! It doesn't make any sense - what's going on here?"

 _The script calls yet again for an Oracle…_

"There are more coming?! This'll be dangerous if we don't do something… ! Huh…?

 _Morgana gets to steal the spotlight again…_

"We need to go now! Those guys in black suits are almost here. We'll be done for if we get surrounded!"

 _This line was written especially for you, My Queen…_

"A team this large would be discovered immediately. We had best split up for our escape… Although, we'll need someone to act as a decoy - no. That's too dangerous.

 _And now, we return to myself, the Joker who wrote this wonderful production._

"Go, everyone! I'll get the Treasure out of here!"

"What - Joker?!" Queen yelped, feigning surprise. "Are you going to distract them all by yourself?!"

"Let him do it, Queen," Skull said. "Once Joker's mind is made up, he ain't gonna take no for an answer." Skull handed him the false Treasure. "I'm sure you ain't gonna die. This is you we're talkin' about here!"

"Please don't do anything reckless, okay?" Noir urged him. _This wasn't in the script…_

"I'll never forgive you if you don't make it back!"

 _I forgot to write lines like this. Good job ad-libbing, team._

"We still haven't fulfilled our deal, remember?" Mona reminded him.

 _That's true, there'll be a lot of disappointment if I mess up… lots of deals to make good on…_

"Even more are coming!" Oracle shouted.

"This truly is a painfully reluctant parting…" Fox said.

"Yes, it seems we had best hurry," Crow assented.

 _YOU WEREN'T IN THE SCRIPT. SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH._

"Got it!" said Joker, and he turned and ran away. But as he did so, his Queen grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around. "WAIT!"

She embraced him and looked into his eyes, while the rest of the team watched from afar. "Queen," shouted Oracle, "hurry this up!"

"Joker," said Queen, "you really think I'd let my boyfriend go without a kiss goodbye?" She kissed him lightly on the cheek, and he was dumbfounded.

 _Also not in the script… but I don't mind._

"Go!" she said, "We'll see you later."

* * *

SWOOSH

Everyone below in the casino was panicking. _Why are they freaking out so much,_ Joker wondered. _They're just a bunch of regular ol' cognitive folks._

SWOOSH

"There - there's something here!" said one of the cognitions below.

SWOOSH

Joker landed on one of the ceiling fixtures, displaying himself to the crowd of frightened cognitions theatrically. "Hi… nice to meet you all!" he called out to the cognitions tauntingly. "My name's Joker, busy running for my life here, stealing a briefcase… My apologies for inconveniencing you all, etc etc… Oh? Some guys trying to capture and/or kill me, you say? Yeah, that's just business.

"On behalf of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, I hope you have a wonderful evening. _GOODBYE, SUCKERS!"_

Joker leaped from one rafter to the next, and then, pulling out his mp3 player, pressed **PLAY.**

What could he say? He had to get himself in the mood!

* * *

"Don't worry about us. Just concentrate on getting away!" Morgana yelled in his ear.

As the team continued chattering in his ear about where they were going and what to do next, the stylized English lyrics rang through his head… a single earbud planted in his right ear, Futaba's special communication earpiece in his left.

 ** _IT'S NOT A GAME  
I'M NOT A ROBOT AI  
CHALLENGING YOU!_**

"I WON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"

 _ **I'M NOT A PHANTOM**_  
 _ **I'M IN YOUR FACE, AND**_  
 _ **I'M HERE TO SEE IT THROUGH**_

"Just run! Get out of there!"

Joker was met by a horde of enemies along the way, and, pulling off a Shadow's mask, charged into battle!

 _"TAKE 'EM DOWN, JOKER!"_

 _ **SO YOU KNOW THAT WE'RE OUT THERE**_  
 _ **SWATTING LIES IN THE MAKING**_  
 _ **CAN'T GO FAST WITHOUT BREAKING**_  
 _ **CAN'T HOLD ON OR LIFE WON'T CHANGE!**_

Defeating the enemies swiftly, Joker leaped away from the reinforcements spectacularly, and up onto another floor, straight over a bright neon sign that repeatedly serialized a message: VICTORY OR DEFEAT.

Victory, indeed. He ran through the door behind him.

* * *

 ** _AIN'T IT A SHAME  
I'M NOT A FIGMENT OF  
YOUR AILING OLD MIND_**

"I can't confirm the intruder's location!"

 ** _I'M JUST AS REAL AS  
I'M JUST AS DANGEROUS  
AS YOU WILL SOON FIND!_**

Hiding himself from the security guard he henceforth encountered, he dashed up the stairs and made his way to the other wing of the Palace.

* * *

"You're surrounded! There's nowhere to run!"

Was there, eh?

What if he actually managed to escape, he wondered? What would happen then? Well, he wasn't supposed to, but - suppose the police slacked off on their jobs? That would be super lame, actually… and pretty disappointing. Joker didn't want that to happen - it would be no fun.

"After the commotion, the bottom floor's completely closed off… can you make it?"

Well, whatever. _I must be going now._

He leaped up and over the railing, and, running agilely across the edge, made his way across the hall and to the window. "See ya!" Joker yelled at his pursuers, and with that jumped out the tall stained glass window which lined the other side of the room, breaking it into a million tiny pieces.

"... You're so reckless, you know that?"

"Yeah," Joker replied, "it's in my blood."

Joker gracefully fell several stories, in a fall that would normally have broken every bone in his body. Thankfully, it was the Metaverse. Normal laws of physics did not necessarily apply in this world, naturally, and he was unscathed upon landing.

 _Now for the grand finale of this superb production…_

Joker stood up, looking towards the police.

"Enemies here… these readings… it can't be…"

The team talked in panicked voices for a solid five seconds. Seriously, everyone, Joker thought, smugly. _I'm proud of you all. You did an excellent job fooling that idiot._

* * *

"You were **sold out.** "

 _Heh. That's old news. Come on, tell me something cool._

It took all of Joker's willpower to not say something clever to the police officers who had apprehended. It was a shame, too, cause after all this hard work, and success thus far - he deserved the chance to show off a little. He supposed he would have to save it for later. For now, though, he was satisfied.

 _Check._

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (Published on AO3 5/30/2017):**_ I got nothing to say today. I don't want to inadvertently slip up about the next chapter. I am REALLY excited. Thanks to all of you for sticking with the story this far!


	14. 11-20-2016

_**Original Opening Note (Published on AO3 5/31/2017):**_ This chapter may be hard to read for some, but it ends on a high note. After all... this is what it is... hehehe.

* * *

Akira no longer recalled what clever things he wanted to say to the police. It was trapped deep under a mass of disorganized memories, an enormous, distorted soup of horror within his mind. Saving a boy with blue hair… kissing a mortified girl… being punched by a poofy-haired girl… A man murdered on live television… his cat getting arrested… some sort of school panel… an urgent voicemail message… and this place…

 _This place… No… where am I… Why am I here…_

He knew this place… he had been here… he knew it well… was this a dream? Or was this reality? Akira could no longer tell any difference.

"And you seemed to be enjoying every second of it… huh?"

 _I was… enjoying it?_ Akira couldn't remember how he had felt. Did how he feel really matter? Did anything really matter? He couldn't know for sure.

 _What year is it…_

 **XX/XX/20XX**

Akira did not know how - he did not know why - but he felt his blood chill.

He could not remember the date, nor the exact year. He sensed that something was horribly wrong. He sensed… he sensed that his doom was coming.

And then… Akira remembered… his friends…

He began to call out in his mind to everyone - anyone - who he could remember…

 _Please… someone save me…_

* * *

"What a disappointing end to the hero of justice," Niijima Sae replied. Akira's memory was a little clearer - a lot clearer, in fact. But the year was still unknown to him, and his fear had not dissipated. He was forgetting something very important. _Sae… please… don't leave me. Please…_

"I still have difficulty believing it, but, I now have a general idea of the method you used for your crimes," Sae told him. "There's much more I'd like to ask, but my allotted time is nearly up…"

"Niijima Sae… please… I haven't remembered yet. This is important! You can't go!"

"I haven't got a choice," Sae responded curtly. "But… I do have a suggestion. Care to strike a deal? If you cooperate with me, I'll consider lightening your sentence."

"What do you want?"

Niijima Sae delivered to Akira a brief lecture about how his life would be utterly destroyed, etc etc, before going on and ranting off the names of Akira's teammates. Haru, Futaba, Makoto, Yusuke, Ann, Ryuji… _No. I can't. I can't implicate them. I won't sell out my friends…_

"Those are your accomplices in the Phantom Thieves case, are they not?"

 _No. No, they're not. I just have to say no. I don't know. I'm forgetting… what the hell is wrong with me…_

 _What choice do I have?_

Though every ounce of his spirit fought against it, he spoke the words - two damning, ruining, hopeless words.

"That's right."

Sae's eyes widened in surprise. "As I thought… You've made a wise choice. Thank you. I'll do my best with what you've told me."

And then, suddenly, too late, a minute too late, Akira began to recall - it's not 20XX - it's 2016. **2016.**

 _The phone…_

"WAIT!" he shouted, "Sae! Stop! STOP! I didn't mean that! I was lying - I remembered wrong -"

"Are you trying to trick me?!" Sae shouted at him.

"No! Don't go, don't - _please!_ The phone. THE PHONE!"

"What are you yammering about?!" Sae yelled in disblief.

 _This place…_

"This place! This place is - it's important!"

"Why are you saying such silly things?"

"You need to show the phone to the true culprit! The one who sold us out! Please - _please believe me_ \- they'll all be killed by the enemy! Your sister will die!"

"My sister… SHUT UP!" Sae screamed at him, standing up and raising her voice at him. _**"YOU CONFESSED TO YOUR CRIMES AND IMPLICATED YOUR ACCOMPLICES! YOU WILL ALL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE!"**_

"This…" Akira lowered his voice to but a low whisper. "Sae… this is not justice… please don't do this… you know the truth now. They'll kill you… they'll kill all of us… they'll kill Makoto… you have to understand… please believe..."

 _ **"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE ANYMORE!"**_ shrieked the prosecutor in a tone not dissimilar to a child throwing a temper tantrum. _**"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH! I HAVE SOLVED THIS CASE! I NEED TO WIN! I NEED…"**_ And then she fell quiet.

Breathing hard, she looked Akira hard in the eyes. "Akira… I… I don't know what to do… but this is driving me mad. I can't stay in this room much longer. I'm sorry." She turned and left. "Akechi is coming to interrogate you next. Perhaps you'll have better luck with him."

 _Akechi… NO!_

Niijima exited the interrogation room and slammed the door behind her.

Akira could not believe this. He had been foolish. His memories had been corrupted by the mysterious entity. He had allowed himself to give in… he had lost the game…

The Phantom Thieves were finished. Now completely helpless, Akira awaited Akechi's arrival restlessly. He did not have to wait long.

* * *

"Huh - ! what're you!"

Two silenced pistol shots rang through the room, and the guard dropped dead to the floor.

"I owe you for all of this… thanks." Akechi's lips curled into a soft, smug smile. "That's right. You and your little friends were vital to our plan. And now, it will be completed."

 _I fucked this one up…_

Akechi chuckled malevolently. He tightened his gloves and adjusted his pistol. "Have you finally pieced it all together?"

"You… bastard…" Akira said weakly. "I pieced this together a long time ago…"

He looked at Akechi defiantly.

 _Maybe I can convince him to change his mind… no. No. I can only do that to good people. Niijima Sae was our only hope… I squandered that opportunity._

"Oh…" Akechi grinned. "So you have?"

"Pancakes…" Akira told him. "You were a fool. It was Morgana who said 'pancakes.' You shouldn't have been able to hear him…"

"Pancakes? Ah… the TV station," Akechi recalled, laughing haughtily. "You're right. That was a silly mistake of me to make. But I still made it here, in the end… it doesn't matter."

"Your mother… was that a lie?"

"It was the truth by other means," Akechi said. "An outright lie can never properly deceive."

"NO!" Akira yelled, "it was a lie! We knew it was you! We knew it was you the whole time! We bugged your phone! We planned my escape!"

"An escape plan? Bug?" Akechi cackled, greatly amused by this revelation. "Ah… when Isshiki's daughter… I see. You are all very clever. But not clever enough, sadly. Now..." he raised the pistol to Akira's forehead.

 _You know what… fuck it. I have to try._

"Do you remember the coffee cup?"

* * *

Akechi's hand trembled hesitantly. _The coffee cup?_

"That was just a coffee cup," Akechi told him, "a physical manifestation of a simple, inconsequential thought withdrawn from your dream."

"But it meant something to you," Akira told him. "I didn't trust you in the slightest - but I knew… I knew that your offer of that gift was genuine, that the meaning behind it was true. You think of me as a friendly rival - perhaps even a good, even your best, friend…"

"I -" Akechi couldn't believe it. _Kurusu Akira? A friend?_ It couldn't be true… that had been a lie. He had simply been manipulating a target. It was part of the job… was it?

"You don't want to kill me," Akira asserted with conviction. "You don't want to kill anyone - least of all me, and all my friends. And Sae-san… you don't want to kill her, or her sister…"

"That - that's not -" _No, no no no I won't let him corrupt me, I won't let him change me - I won't let him free my heart!_

"We heard the voice ordering you to commit this hit," Akira told him. "You're a puppet, Akechi! You can't like this horrible person anymore than we do! You believe in your justice! You can - you can help us. You can save yourself! You - you - you can sa -"

 **bang**

 **dripdrip**

 **splat.**

* * *

Akira couldn't believe it - Akechi had killed him - Akechi had killed him - he was dead - these were his last thoughts…

 _I'm sweating blood again…_

* * *

Akechi gasped slightly, but then, composing himself, looked at the mess he had made…

 _I did it._

 _Goodbye, Kurusu Akira…_

 _I killed the leader of the Phantom Thieves._

 _I stopped a dangerous criminal… I'm a hero…_

 _Am I?_

A part of him didn't want to believe it. But it couldn't be wrong. Kurusu Akira had a talent - a talent for freeing hearts. But hearts were not meant to be free. Hearts were to be contained, to be withheld from the horrors of the world, to bow to the whim of the person in charge.

Hearts were tools, to be used by those who were qualified to rise up in power, to change the world for the better. To maintain freedom - and security. It would always be better. Akechi would always be on the better side. The winning side.

But did he really believe that?

It hardly mattered. Whether he liked it or not, he would continue to be commanded by Shido. He would continue to work with him, towards the greater good -

And then he would have his revenge.

* * *

Futaba was sweating bullets. She was sitting in the unused soundproof interrogation room, her fingers hovering frozen over the keyboard. There was an empty chair and some rope sitting nearby.

The rest of the team was there as well, all either terrified or blank-faced, not comprehending what was happening. "It should've worked!" she said. She was freaking out. "It should have - it should have!"

"Akira… no! What happened!" Makoto was sobbing into her hands.

"This… this can't be!" Ann was utterly shocked.

"Akira - Akira was drugged - he didn't remember?" Haru cried in disbelief. "No…"

"You gotta be shittin' me!" Ryuji yelled. "This - this isn't happening!"

"I don't believe it!" Yusuke said. "It… this… this happened? Is this a dream? Please let me wake up if so…"

"You… you guys…" Morgana was appalled and greatly upset. "I don't… I can't… I can't see this… this isn't happening!"

Akira and Akechi's voices came through to them over Futaba's laptop, broadcast from Akira's phone:

 _"You don't want to kill me. You don't want to kill anyone - least of all me, and all my friends. And Sae-san… you don't want to kill her, or her sister…"_

 _"That - that's not -"_

 _"We heard the voice ordering you to commit this hit. You're a puppet, Akechi! You can't like this horrible person anymore than we do! You believe in your justice! You can - you can help us. You can save yourself! You - you - you can sa -"_

A gunshot was heard. The sound rang like a drum through the ears of the horrified Phantom Thieves. Makoto screamed. _"AKIRA!"_

"Mako-chan!" Haru said. "Mako-chan…"

"I… I never got to say…" Makoto sobbed into Haru's shoulders.

And then, suddenly, the Phantom Thieves all heard the collective voice of all their Personas together…

 _We are very disappointed in you… followers of the Trickster._

 _With the demise of the Fool, our contracts cannot continue. Here, our cooperation will end, as we mutually terminate our vows…_

A blue light rose from all of them, and then vanished… something had left.

"The hell was that?!" Ryuji shouted.

"Our… our Personas…" Ann realized. "We've lost our Personas!"

Futaba looked at her phone and gasped. "The Nav - it's gone!"

"Is this because Akira was killed… no!" Yusuke said.

"We…" Makoto wiped the tears from her eyes. "The police… what are we going to do?"

"You all need to run!" Morgana said. "They'll all be after you now! The police… Akechi… our enemy… you need to go into hiding! Please! Run!"

* * *

Morgana was lost now. A lone stray. Just a simple cat… He had no Persona. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't help this world. He couldn't save his friends - the people he belonged with. They had left him.

It had been three weeks since Akira had died. The news was constantly blaring stuff about some guy named Shido… who was he? He seemed like a total phony. What was happening to this world? He didn't care about the world much, but he did care about the humans who lived in it. He cared about their dreams… their hope.

Why did such thoughts as these take hold of him so strongly? Because… because he hoped he was human. Because he hoped for the world to welcome him. And now here he was, just an unnoticed, unwanted animal wandering the street. But, he was better than this… wasn't he? Wasn't anyone going to help him?

Morgana looked across the busy Tokyo street. There was some food on the other side, but no crosswalk in sight… No clear way to get to it. He needed it, though - he was hungry. It wasn't much, but it was going to be the best he could get…

No cars seemed to be coming. Morgana decided to make a run for it.

 _SCCCCREEEEECH_

 _ **SPLAT!**_

The vehicle kept going. The driver had not even noticed the collision with the unfortunate animal.

* * *

Ryuji had had enough of this bullshit. He wasn't going to stand for it anymore. So he was doing what he did best - running. Running really far and really fast. It was the only thing he knew to do. The park was deserted, and the air was cool… it was oddly pleasant, yet disturbing. Where was everyone else?

It had been a little under a month. At some point, the police would get to him and arrest him, or Akechi and/or another minion of whatever asshole the Phantom Thieves had made an enemy of would kill him. He had no clue how to escape this situation. Everyone was going to be fucked…

What would his mom think when she found out he was one of those Phantom Thieves? It wasn't something he wanted to think about…

He was pissed at the world. At these shitty adults, this horrible world, whatever asshole had manipulated Akechi into coming after them. Into becoming a murderer. He would never forgive whoever had been on the phone with him, saying all that stuff about destroying the Phantom Thieves and taking power.

The Phantom Thieves were never about taking power! They were about helping people… this guy… who did this guy think he was? Why did he decide to go after them? It all made no fucking sense!

Ryuji suddenly felt his heart stop, and then… _no… you gotta be messin' with me!_

But no one was messing with him. He was gone. The blonde running boy toppled facefirst into the ground.

* * *

"Ann-chan!" the photographer called. "Let's try this instead…"

Ann struck a forced smile - more forced than usual - and adopted a different position. She was doing her modeling job, but she wanted to do anything but modeling at that moment. It was in front of Shibuya station, near an active construction site for… some reason… and - _Ryuji's dead…_

The news had announced the mysterious coincidental death of another Phantom Thief. They said it was heart failure due to exhaustion - but that was nonsense. Ryuji's heart had been fine. It had been Akechi. She knew it had. But what was she supposed to do about it? She couldn't just run away from her life…

She needed to keep modeling - it was what she - what her body - was made for… it was the only job she would ever have, that she would ever find worth doing. But with Akira dead, and the rest of them coming next, how would she ever smile for the camera the same way again…

"ANN-CHAN!" screamed the photographer. "LOOK OUT!"

Ann looked up - there was a large crane above her head, carrying a large cargo of metal beams. She started to leap out the way, but there was no escaping the oncoming impact -

 _SMAKSHH!_

Only her hat survived.

* * *

Yusuke had painted a very sad picture. It was a picture of a blob… of some sort. A black blob, surrounded by a splat of red in a white void.

It was a picture of Akira.

"What is this?" his art teacher wondered, coming over to take a look at the bizarre caricature. "Kitagawa-kun, are you alright? Your skills seem to be waning today."

"I… I lost a friend…" Yusuke said slowly. "I don't really feel quite myself today. May I take a break, sensei?"

The man nodded. "No worries. You have wonderful talents. I'm certain there's no need to worry. And truthfully…" he eyed the portrait. "I sense deep… hopelessness in this. I quite like it. It's different. Although, I doubt it would appeal to the tastes of most others…"

Yusuke smiled a little. "Thank you." He stood up and left the studio, then headed off to a nearby cafe. It wasn't every day that he spent money on food, but considering the circumstances, it seemed appropriate to treat himself to some coffee. He could no longer go to Leblanc - the cafe had been closed upon Akira's death, and Sakura-san's subsequent arrest.

As Yusuke sat in the cafe's outdoor seating with his coffee, he mulled over his predicament. His paintings had become tainted with misery since Akira's death. He sensed it would be a very long time before he recovered - if he lived long enough. Ann and Ryuji had died mysteriously, and been reported on the news as having been discovered to be Phantom Thieves postmortem following their accidental deaths.

As expected, they were being eliminated one by one by the enemy. He figured it wouldn't be too long before his turn came…

He took a sip of coffee and breathed in the cool afternoon air.

Suddenly, a fire erupted in his stomach. Something was terribly wrong. Something… something was… burning his insides. His eyes jerked open in surprise. His coffee had been poisoned?

"So this… is my end…" he murmured, rather nonplussed by the thought. "What a bizarre scene."

And with that, Yusuke dropped his coffee and the cup shattered upon the sidewalk. His head fell upon the table and remained immobile.

* * *

Futaba was feeling sick. Her Persona was gone, and she was now slowly sinking back into depression. Sojiro had been arrested, and her uncle was coming back to retake custody of her soon. Except, she was probably going to get arrested first once the police got their act together. Or killed by Akechi.

She remembered how awful it had been once, in this tiny room. It was her tomb… literally, even, in her Palace. Now? It was… her room. She had no intention of dying. She wanted to escape. She wanted to escape this madness.

Could she hack into Akechi's phone or something and try to anticipate his actions? Perhaps escape his incoming attempt on her life? No… There wasn't a chance. She had tried. His phone was too secure to access remotely. She would need to physically hold it…

What could she do? She remembered what she had said to the cognitive abomination that she had once believed was her mother - that she would live, no matter what. She would live. She would always move forward with her life.

What life was there to move forward with? She didn't know, but she decided now was the time to find it. Futaba picked up her backpack, and began loading it with her most treasured belongings. She was running away. She was not letting her horrible uncle take her back. She was going to take back her world - no matter what it took -

But as she made for the window, Futaba heard a spark from behind her desk. _What? Is that… oh no - but there's nothing wrong with any of the wires or circuits - I would know!_

The flames began to spread… spread farther and farther, and soon, a small inferno was erupting in her room. _He sabotaged the electrics - no!_ Futaba attempted to open the window, but it was jammed shut. Soon enough, she collapsed, and was dead from the fumes within minutes.

The following morning, a colossal pile of ashes had taken the place of the Sakura house.

* * *

Haru was standing inside her father's company's headquarters, feeling distraught and overwhelmed. She was a former Phantom Thief. She was wanted by the police. It was only a matter of time before they made a move.

She stared out of the open window of her father's former room, wondering - why was this hers now? Why did she have to take on such a heavy burden? What was so important about all this? _A teenage girl should never be entrusted with this much money,_ she thought. _It just doesn't seem right._

Haru walked upstairs and opened the door to the balcony, where her father had sometimes stood, looking out over Tokyo. No doubt he had been dreaming of how many Big Bang Burgers he would one day erect throughout the city. But Haru was simply here to reflect upon her past. What had gone wrong? Where?

Her father was dead, her friends were being systematically eliminated by the enemy, and she was next - if the police didn't get to her first. How, she wondered, was she ever supposed to escape this? She could hire more security, or pay the police out of this situation… but was there a budget for that?

She didn't know. She didn't really want to know. She just wanted to forget about being a CEO's daughter, a wanted criminal, or the target of a malicious power - and simply be a normal schoolgirl… But that opportunity had been squandered the moment she was born into the hands of this family and its ever-growing enterprise.

Would she ever escape such an unfortunate status? She wanted none of this. Ever… It filled her with dread. Which would happen first - her company becoming bankrupt, or taken from her? Her arrest for being a Phantom Thief - for the murder of her own father? Or, would it be her death…

The question was answered swiftly as Haru was pushed from behind by an unseen figure, and, screaming, she fell…

 _Akechi! … How did he get in here… it doesn't matter… he finally got me…_

 **SPLAT.**

* * *

"With the surprising suicde of Okumura Haru, almost all the Phantom Thieves have now died under mysterious circumstances," said a reporter. "The discovery of Okumura's involvement came as a great shock to the authorities and media, especially considering the highly publicized death of her father, Okumura Kunikazu, this past October, which the Phantom Thieves are highly suspected to have been involved in."

Makoto was deeply upset by the constant news of all her friends dying in such strange accidents. Akechi had killed them all - Morgana was gone - she was now the last living Phantom Thief. The knowledge filled her with a terrible, inescapable sense of dread… one that she lived with every day, unable to alert any authorities with the power to keep her safe. And a sister, a sister even further away from her now, in whom she could never confide her fear.

Niijima Sae looked surprised at the news on the courthouse television. "So they're all dead… except you!"

Makoto hung her head. "Sis…"

As Makoto had anticipated, Sae had used her authority to rescue her sister from prosecution for her actions for the time being. Makoto was now placed under house arrest and constant monitoring by both the police and her sister, only ever let out for courthouse hearings.

But that wasn't the worst of it - the worst was seeing the disappointment and disbelief in Sae's eyes every day. And even worse than that, was Akira no longer alive to comfort her.

"Why did you join these people?!" Sae asked Makoto. "You've ruined your future. My reputation has taken a huge hit. You were expelled from Shujin - Shujin, expelling their top student, their student council president, of all people! I could have never imagined! And now I work day and night trying to salvage what remains of BOTH our lives! Why did you do this to us?!"

"Because I… I…" Makoto cried. "I was being used, manipulated, I was in a terrible situation - they saved me, Sis! They were good people! Their leader… Akira... he reminded me of Dad…"

"He WHAT?!" Sae was appalled. "Makoto, your father never would have -"

"How do you know what he would have?!" Makoto sobbed.

Sae sighed. "Whatever. Let's go straight home. We can't even go out anywhere because of this nonsense…"

* * *

When they arrived back home, they were greeted by an unexpected, and most certainly unwelcome presence.

"A - Akechi Goro!" Sae yelped in surprise. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?!"

"I came to take care of your sister," Akechi Goro replied, and he withdrew his silenced pistol. "Considering her situation, coming here directly was the only way to kill her. And as for getting in here… it was a piece of cake for a detective… who once had a brief stint as a Phantom Thief… and lives a dual life as an assassin."

"What?!" Sae could not believe what she was hearing in the slightest. "I - I - I -"

"Step aside, Sis," Makoto said, roughly shoving her incredulous sister to the floor.

"Makoto - !"

"So you've come for me, have you?!" Makoto scowled at Akechi. "I heard Akira tell you all about your mistakes… had he not been delirious from drugs when he spoke to Sis, we would have bested you, Akechi!"

"I see…" Akechi said. "You had some grand plan… trick me into killing her cognition of Akira… and then capture me, I imagine, try to interrogate me, and force me to leak the name of my employer. A clever ruse, Niijima-san. Yes… if Akira had not had drugs administered to his being, you would almost certainly have won."

"What?!" Sae was beyond shocked. "What is this? GET OUT OF MY HOME AT ONCE!"

"You heard him, right? Trying to convince me to turn over to your side?" Akechi laughed. "He had a special talent… a talent for freeing the weak, for convincing the strong to assist the losing side… even as Kurusu Akira, he could never stop changing hearts. He may very well have changed mine… but of course, I couldn't allow his foolishness to overtake me."

"So you started eliminating all of us one by one," Makoto said, "all at the whim of this 'employer.' Akechi - Akira was right. He told you the truth. Whether or not you choose to believe it is your choice." She turned to Sae. "Sis - this has nothing to do with you. Please - flee at once!"

But Sae would not move. "Makoto… you're in danger!" she said.

"Oh, I know," Makoto said, "but I deserve it. Wouldn't I be getting the death penalty, had you not covered for me?"

"I - don't say such things - no! I don't care! I won't abandon you!"

"How touching," Akechi said. "You two… finally healing the rifts driven between you by your sibling rivalry - but far, far too late."

Makoto looked at Akechi with the the utmost contemptuous fury raging in her eyes. "You… you killed Akira… my lover…" she said, her voice burning with hate. "You killed all my friends… with such unorthodox means… through such contrived incidents… and now you're here to simply shoot me? Akechi, I admit I am almost disappointed in you…"

Makoto stood firm and opened her arms wide. _Akira… I won't fight him. That's for you to do._

"By all means, go ahead… kill me. But allow me to warn you… you will, one day, come to regret all your unforgivable actions… And, be it through guilt, or through punishment, you will one day pay, and feel remorse for all of it. You will face justice for all of the murders you have committed - all the lives you have helped destroy!"

"Nonsense," said Akechi sardonically. "But anyway, thank you for making this easy."

"Makoto! NO!"

Akechi raised his pistol, fired

and Niijima Sae dropped to the floor, bleeding.

Makoto had been knocked to the floor, and there was now a bullet wound in Sae's right side.

"Oh my," Akechi said, "that looks painful… Sae-san."

"DON'T YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT! As though I am your equal!" Sae yelled. "I am miles above you, Akechi! You… you are inhuman! You are unworthy of my respect! You call yourself an Ace Detective, you flaunt that title as though you are some sort of grand hero? You are truly despicable…"

"Sis…"

"I know what I believe now," Sae said, determined, as she stood up. "I remember the truth of my justice. You are a criminal… a fiend… you are the culprit Kurusu Akira warned me about…" She grabbed the gun and took hold of Akechi, grabbing him by the collar with one hand and holding the gun to his head with the other. "WHO IS YOUR EMPLOYER?!"

"Ah, well, you know, this is somewhat convenient actually," Akechi said. "I can set this up to look like you two lashed out at each other."

"You -" Makoto was furious at these words. Her face was burning red hot. "You would do such a thing?! Answer my sister's question!"

"Ah, very well, if you insist… you'll be dead soon enough anyway." Akechi chuckled. "My employer is Shido Masayoshi."

Sae's expression changed to a state of absolute and utter bewilderment. "Shido?! … the man in the running for Prime Minister… he…" She was quiet a moment. "I see… the mental shutdown incidents… a conspiracy to get himself elected! What on Earth…"

"A man like that soon coming into power…" Makoto breathed out a squeak of horror. "What have we done… Akira?!"

"Neither of you will ever live to tell the truth, naturally." Akechi retrieved a second pistol from his pocket at lightning speed, and, before Sae could react, shot her point blank in the head.

Makoto shrieked in disbelief. "... SIS!" She rushed towards Sae and began crying onto her. Then, looking back up at Akechi…

 _ **"GOD DAMN YOU!"**_

 **bang.**

Akechi didn't even blink as Makoto crumpled to the floor.

 _No… I can't believe this… Me… killed? I… I didn't mean it..._

* * *

After arranging the bodies in such a manner that it appeared Sae and Makoto had killed each other, Akechi departed from the Niijima residence. But then, he had a sudden thought… he felt… empty. He thought back to what he had said to Akira way back…

 _"Isn't this boring?"_

 _"Hmm…"_

 _"Doesn't this seem like just business as usual to you? If neither of us ever truly bests the other, or at least comes close… isn't it just the same? Don't you wish that we could have more fun with this?"_

 _"Yeah… I suppose… but don't we have to do our jobs?"_

 _"True. I suppose the only way to make it more exciting would be to up the stakes."_

He didn't want to admit it… but…

 _The coffee cup… our friendship…_

Akechi opened up his suitcase, and there, among his pistols, pistol accessories, and other tools of murder, was perhaps the one thing in his possession that had never been used towards the end of killing - Akira's coffee cup from his dream world.

Akechi genuinely did quite like Leblanc's coffee - but due to his actions, the owner had been charged with assisting a criminal and arrested. Had he really wanted to destroy the lives of the only people who had brought any happiness to his life? It was a question he was uncertain he wanted to answer.

Had the Niijima sisters been right? Had Akira? Perhaps… perhaps he had the wrong idea. Was getting revenge on Shido really the best way to go about this? And even if it were, ought he to be doing it this way? Leaving a trail of bodies behind him?

But he knew of no other way. He didn't want to change anyone's heart. He personally felt that experiencing a change of heart, and being forced to admit one's crimes, was a fate far worse than death…

Perhaps… He was suddenly intrigued by the conclusion he had drawn.

 _Perhaps that was the point._

* * *

"You've done it," Shido said wickedly, looking away from Akechi and out his office window overlooking Tokyo. It was the day after the election - Shido had, after all of Akechi's efforts, become Prime Minister of Japan. "The Phantom Thieves - they have been destroyed. And now I have risen to power at last…"

"Yes…" Akechi was confused. It seemed his father truly only did care for him as a means to an end… there was no "we" in "I."

"It's thanks to you," Shido said, "that I have made it this far… with you as my right hand man. Now, about the loyal customers of our mental shutdown business…"

"What of them?" Akechi asked.

"How about you dispose of the ones you think suspicious?"

"Actually…" Akechi decided there was no point waiting. What was going on? He wanted Shido to acknowledge him as his son, but, what was he waiting for? Would Shido just suddenly say, "Good job," out of the blue? It was ridiculous, really. Why on Earth would he expect that.

And then suddenly he had a sharp pain in his head… Shido froze… Akechi felt that he was having a most intense dream. As if his dream and waking worlds were coming together…

Akira… Someone with Akira's voice was talking to him…

 _As I was saying, before you so rudely SHOT ME IN THE HEAD, Akechi… You can save yourself now. You can save Japan, if only you acknowledge your wrongs. If you get whatever silly idea about self-gratification and winning and showing your worth out of your head…_

 _ **WHO… who is this? Why do you sound like Akira?!**_

 _Akechi, I am Akira. I ask you now… what is it that you want?_

 _ **I want... I want to get my father to acknowledge me…**_

 _Dig deeper, my friend…_

 _ **I… I want to get revenge on him for ruining my life…**_

 _Bit better. But that's not quite it._

 _ **I want to be loved…**_

 _Bingo._

 _Now, Akechi… make your choice. Will you join your awful father in his delusional conquest of this country, or will you man up? Will you help me take back our future? Will… will you accept our friendship?_

 _ **Friendship?**_

 _I can't trust you, Akechi. I can't forgive you for all the horrible things you have done - for killing all those innocents. For killing Okumura, for killing me. For killing all my friends, and Makoto. I can't believe you for a second when you talk in specifics. But when you give me abstracts. You offered me a coffee cup, Akechi… that's too abstract of a message to be a lie…_

 _Now answer me this… do you hate your father?_

 _ **… Yes. I am deeply angered at him for all he has made of me.**_

 _Then show him your anger. Show him now, Akechi… Help save us…_

The dreamlike phenomenon faded away, and Shido began moving again.

"Akechi… Are you listening to me?! Will you dispose of our customers?!"

You're a puppet, Akechi…

You will one day pay, and feel remorse for all of it!

You are inhuman! You are unworthy of my respect!

They were right… he was a puppet… a conditioned, inhuman puppet… and it was now, that he felt remorse.

Akechi looked Shido straight in the eye… and said, with the utmost conviction he could muster… "No."

"Excuse me?!"

 **"NO!"** Akechi shouted. "I will not kill for you any longer!" Shido's demeanor instantly turned hostile. "Are you joking?!"

"By no means do I intend to jest," Akechi told him. "You, Shido Masayoshi, are the scum of the Earth - you have turned me, a teenager, into an unforgivable, irredeemable monster of a human being. You have instilled in me a deep-seated hatred for you, and from that hatred, a toxic, malicious nature I cannot discard… and _**there is nothing I can ever do to save me from myself!"**_

"How dare…" Shido clenched his fists tightly. "I will not excuse this insolence!"

"I don't ask for you to excuse me!" Akechi screamed. "I have committed a hundred terrible crimes. I am beyond excuse! I am an unimaginable demon fit for an inconceivable hell - and it is all because of _**you!**_ YOU made me kill dozens of innocent individuals!

"YOU made me murder my friend - the only friend I ever had, and he will never be willing to forgive me! You talk publicly of saving Japan… but, you are no savior, Shido-san. You are an absolute monster of a man, and I pray the public sees you and I for what we are - and that we rightfully face punishment for these atrocities!"

"You… you worthless brat!" Shido paged one of his lackeys. "I shall dispose of you at once!"

"Do so, by all means," Akechi encouraged. "I have lived through plenty enough killing for one lifetime. It's about time I be killed myself… _Father."_

Shido looked Akechi straight in the eyes. And just as Akechi now understood, he did not commend him on his efforts. He did not acknowledge him favorably as his son.

"So… it's true as I suspected," Shido mused. "No matter."

As Akechi's skull was caved in from behind by Shido's muscle from the yakuza - "the cleaner," as they called him - the last thing he saw was Shido's arrogant, wretched face of unforgivable evil.

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (Published on AO3 5/31/2017):**_ This was one of the hardest to write, mostly because I had no clue how to kill everyone at first. I almost wrote some more convoluted scenarios, but then I realized Akechi wouldn't do things like that, he'd keep it simple and absurdly mundane to avoid suspicion from the public. And then of course he had to tell Shido that they both suck. (no, he's not redeeming himself.) That was my favorite part.

Doesn't end here, folks! There's still plenty of steam in this for the time being. The next chapter will make everything clear at last...

* * *

 _ **New End Note (6/5/2017):**_ Originally, I had a cryptic message at the end saying that Akechi, Sae and Akira had been "found." This was intended to lead into a continuation arc involving time travel stuff. However, I couldn't figure out a way for all of it to make sense, so I later deleted those words and wrote a new arc which I am still not sure if people like or not because when I started it, it seemed like less people were reading the story.

I'm very proud of this chapter, but after further chapters I feel like it was the peak of this story and I could have ended it here... except I never possibly could have, because everyone was all like "HOLY FUCK WHAT DID YOU DO?!" And I hate stories that don't properly end.

I'd really like this to not become one of them...


	15. The Escape Plan

**_New Opening Note (6/5/2017):_** The old opening note on AO3 is outdated for... reasons. I wrote a shit chapter where Akechi turned nice. People didn't like that, so I retconned it and turned Akechi evil again. Except I dunno if that really worked. The battle of wits arc is kinda overish so like... IDK WHAT TO DO. if you wanna see that old shit go find this on AO3 ok. It's still over there for the sake of posterity. (I just don't have to repeat it here.)

* * *

Akira couldn't believe it - Akechi had killed him - Akechi had killed him - he was dead - these were his last thoughts…

 _I'm sweating blood again…_

And all of a sudden he found himself standing up, looking down upon his own corpse on the blood-splattered desk…

How was he moving? What the hell was going on?

He decided to follow Akechi, and see what he could do, if anything, to prevent the horrible misfortune that was about to befall his friends.

* * *

Akira followed Akechi for a month, watching him perform an assortment of various everyday activities:

Eat a healthy, balanced breakfast Go to his day job at the SIU Eat sushi (sometimes with Niijima Sae) Make a television appearance spewing lies about the Phantom Thieves Eat a healthy, balanced lunch Send a lot of emails Go back to work Speak on the phone with his employer, Shido Masayoshi Murder a Phantom Thief Eat a healthy, balanced dinner Watch the latest anime Sleep for three to five hours Wake up/repeat

Yes, Akechi had quite the healthy, balanced lifestyle, breakfast, work, media work, sushi, emails, murder, anime, yessir Akechi had it all.

And Akira was thoroughly disgusted by it.

He simply stood by and watched, unable to prevent the deaths of any of his friends. Then, Shido was elected Prime Minister of Japan as expected… Akechi went to meet with him on the 20th.

It was then that Akira tried to convince Akechi to turn back from the dark side. But after he made his case, Akechi was killed shortly thereafter when he angered Shido, who summoned a man from the yakuza to smash his skull like a watermelon.

 _Oh well,_ thought Akira, _That was gruesome. Guess Akechi's dead like he wanted. Good for him._

And then Akira suddenly felt himself half asleep, yet half awake, and then, back in his dream world…

* * *

Upon regaining his senses, Akechi found himself in his own dream world… Shido's office. It was strange to think that the center of his dream world was the very place in which he had died.

Shido was not present, obviously, and thankfully. Akechi probably would have freaked out a little if his father, the man who ordered his murder, had appeared here. Now, he wondered, why was he in his dream world? Was that what happened to people when they died? It very well could be, but he wasn't sure. It could also very well be that he wasn't truly dead. Just somewhere else.

 _I wouldn't know,_ Akechi mused, _Shido's never ordered a man from the yakuza to brutally smash my skull before. It's certainly not something that happens to you every day…_

He considered carefully what Kurusu Akira had said. Was he really friends with him? Did he really want to be loved? Yes and yes… but - it was far too late for that now. Akira was indeed a friend of sorts - but Akira was also his enemy. Akira was someone who deserved to die as much as he deserved to live. It was a conflicted state of affairs that Akechi now found his heart caught between.

 _What am I to do?_ He wondered. Akira had offered him a choice -

 _Will you join your awful father in his delusional conquest of this country, or…_

 _Will you help me take back our future? Will you accept our friendship?_

What a silly set of options, he thought. What nonsense was Akira speaking of? Delusional conquest, he understood. Shido was a maniac - a monster. A truly despicable man. But he, Akechi, was also a monster, and there was no way that such a thing could be helped. Akechi Goro was a murderer, and Akechi Goro would always be a murderer.

He took the coffee cup out of his suitcase and observed it carefully

before smashing it upon Shido's desk.

Akira was wrong about the coffee cup. Truly foolish. The coffee cup was a false promise. It was simply a ruse, to try and fool Akira into trusting him. There was no way that the coffee cup was really a genuine message of friendship, or of anything else. And even if it were - did it matter? It most certainly did not.

Akechi and Akira had jobs. Akechi was an assassin, Akira was a thief. And as for the latter's ridiculous choice, his offer to join him? No. But Akechi would not join Shido either. He was going to take a third option.

He picked up and closed his suitcase, then left his father's office.

* * *

Leblanc.

Akira was alone. The TV was blaring news about the Phantom Thieves.

 _"Niijima Makoto, a former student of Shujin Academy, and her elder sister, public prosecutor Niijima Sae were found dead in their home this past evening. The scene discovered gave the impression of the two sisters having killed each other in a struggle. The motives behind this incident are unknown. The younger Niijima's death marks the demise of the last living member of the criminal group known as The Phantom Thieves of Hearts._

 _"Niijima Makoto was being held under house arrest and a trial was in progress to decide her punishment for the crimes she committed as a Phantom Thief when she was killed. In other news, famous Ace Detective Akechi Goro was a no-show for his appearance last week, and has apparently gone missing…"_

"Missing?"

Akira looked to his left, and found Makoto of all people sitting next to him. "It's very odd, watching a news report about your own death. How is it that you get TV from the outside world here? In… wherever this is."

"My dream world," Akira told her. "I actually don't know that that is real TV. It seems eerily similar to what I imagine happened in reality, though."

"How strange," Makoto noted.

They sat in silence for a moment. Makoto got bored and decided to do a crossword puzzle in the newspaper. The news started blaring some announcement from a man named Shido Masayoshi. Right…

 _"Thank you all for casting your votes for me, Shido Masayoshi! The number of mysterious accidental deaths is on the rise. But do not worry - these matters will soon quiet. A bright future is coming for Japan!"_

Akira scoffed at the television. "Sheesh. He isn't even trying to be subtle."

"Akechi's shady 'employer,' as he put it." Makoto murmured. "Yes, he is utterly arrogant. It's a shame we didn't live long enough to stop him. He seems to have gotten the media to side with him as well… this crossword puzzle in the newspaper appears to have his name as one of the solutions."

"How is that possible in my dream?"

"I don't know; I've never been here before. You tell me," Makoto put down the crossword puzzle. "I wonder where everyone else is. Why is it only just us?"

As if to answer her question, the door to Leblanc dinged open. "Hey, mornin'," Ryuji said, seeming rather fatigued. "Akira, Makoto, what's up?"

"Well, we're dead…" Makoto noted.

"Besides that."

"Shido Masayoshi is Prime Minister now," Akira informed him regretfully.

"Shido Masayoshi? Who's he?"

"The enemy we were after. Who ordered Akechi to kill us all."

"What? Ah, damn it…" Ryuji groaned. "Well, I guess we're most sincerely dead, eh?" He sat down next to Akira. "I guess Leblanc is a better hell than… most hells."

"I'll say," Akira said. "It has air conditioning, coffee, flat screen TV, all that nonsense…"

"Yes," Makoto assented. "It makes for a rather well-furnished afterlife."

"Still sucks that we're dead," Ryuji said, expressing bittersweet disappointment, "but yeah, if we had to die, at least we're comfy, right? I think I'll just chill and read this manga. Let me know if you need anything…"

The door dinged open again. "Hello - Akira, Mako-chan, Ryuji-kun…"

"Haru," Makoto asked, "are you alright?"

"Not really," Haru replied, sorrowfully, "I did plummet to my death from a balcony, after all, and who knows what's being done with my father's company…"

"Yeah," Ann said as she came in, "and I got a ton of metal junk dropped on my head while I was modeling in Shibuya…"

"That really sucks," Akira replied. "What do we do now?"

"We just sit here, I guess," Futaba suggested, emerging from upstairs. She sat down and began to read a book. "Yay…"

Yusuke entered Leblanc. "Dying," he noted, "was possibly the most bizarre thing I have ever experienced…"

"Yeah me, too…" Akira agreed. "Let me tell you - getting shot in the head is possibly the strangest feeling. It's like a steel insect worming its way to your brain…"

"Please," Ann said, "we don't need to hear about that."

"Sorry." Akira sat down next to Makoto. "So what do we do now?"

"Well…" Futaba noted, "we're dead, so we're stuck here forever, right?"

"It seems that way," Haru agreed. "Death is an endless state of affairs, after all."

"So, let's take advantage of it. Just. Get comfortable. Chill out." Akira proposed. "Not like we can do anything else…"

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Makoto seconded.

Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"THIS MANGA IS BULLSHIT!" Ryuji shouted suddenly. "It's all about frickin' Shido and his _ **'GREAT AND HEROIC DEEDS FOR THIS COUNTRY!'"**_ Ryuji tossed the manga behind him, where it landed perfectly in the trash. "What kinda fucked up world have we landed in?!"

"I… I don't know that that's representative of my dream world," Akira said, "although I wouldn't be surprised if that existed in reality."

"Anyway," said Haru, "Considering these circumstances, I can't imagine that getting mad about bogus propaganda is any use to us now. Death time, I suppose. Let's… enjoy ourselves."

Within moments, the deceased Phantom Thieves of Hearts were all moving about Leblanc, all engaging in various recreational activities together. Yusuke was teaching himself how to make curry, making good use of a seemingly endless supply of curry ingredients. Futaba was reading Makoto's mystery novel. Ryuji was trying to figure out different ways of making coffee that tasted better to him. Ann and Haru were chatting amongst themselves and sharing sweets.

Akira and Makoto, meanwhile, went upstairs together.

* * *

Akira and Makoto were cuddling together on his sofa. Makoto's eyes were closed, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder. He could hear everyone talking and laughing downstairs. They were all having such a good time together… almost as good a time as they might have had in reality… Almost as if they had never died to start with. Akira found it unsettling. Was death supposed to be this pleasant of an experience?

"Akira?" Haru called. "Please excuse us - but we wanted to have a conversation about the situation. May we come up here?"

"I don't mind," Akira replied. Makoto murmured that she didn't feel like responding. Everyone came upstairs and took seats.

"Makoto's asleep?!" Ryuji shouted in surprise when he noticed. "Alright then, time to break out those markers!"

"Don't you dare!" Akira scolded him. "Whatever it is you plan on drawing on her face, she'll give you hell for it. Plus she isn't actually asleep."

"We're dead," Yusuke pointed out, "and furthermore, we have found ourselves in what is supposedly a dream world - where people would naturally go when they sleep, not a place where they themselves would sleep. I can't imagine it possible for us to sleep here, seeing as this is essentially a world made of thought."

"Are we really dead, though?" Akira wondered, "I'm not sure we seem all that dead…"

"I don't know." Ann wondered. "But we're not in the real world, right? Everything outside is all empty…"

"No," Akira confirmed, "we're in my dream world. I'm certain of it. Wait - everything outside?"

"Have you not been out, Akira?" Haru asked. "I would have thought dying was a bad dream, but Shibuya was completely deserted."

"Deserted… ?" Akira stood up and headed back downstairs.

* * *

He opened the door to Leblanc and stepped outside. And outside was not the white void from before - but, Yongen-Jaya… Yongen-Jaya! Except there were no people anywhere. But the entity…

"Trickster." Startled, Akira looked in the direction of the voice, absolutely stunned. "You are not finished yet," the source, who was a little girl in a blue dress with butterfly hairpins and long blonde hair, told him. Akira was not sure he knew her, but she sounded and looked oddly familiar…

"I am Lavenza," she said, "You do not know me yet by this name… and this face… but you will soon. Well done on expelling the malicious entity preying upon your mind."

"I… I did it? It's gone?" Akira was stunned. The whole of Tokyo… of course. The will of this unknown psychic creature had been inhibiting a whole world! It was Tokyo. His sanctuary. Akira reached out and gripped the leaves of a small houseplant… they felt alive. How did the inside of his mind feel so real now?

"My master has learned of your triumph… he is very impressed that you have succeeded," The mysterious little girl known as Lavenza said. "Now… go forth with your brilliant plan…"

"But… that failed…"

"But you had another plan," Lavenza said kindly, "Correct? That's why you allowed yourself to be bested by the enemy… so that you could come back…"

"Come back?"

"You are being a bit too modest, Trickster," Lavenza said, looking slightly puzzled. "Or are you expressing confusion? I don't think all this was simply coincidence."

"I - I think…" Akira did not follow this at all.

"I think you meant to die," Lavenza told him. "You do recall what the book said?"

 _The book?_ Akira thought. He was confused… _ohhh that's right… the book…_

 _ **You will need to destroy your future, so that it can be birthed anew. This demon has been planted in your psyche as an act of sabotage by a malevolent deity. It's essentially a glorified mind control device. It can't be removed - unless you die first.**_

"Who… who wrote that?" he asked.

"You wrote that message yourself... from your own dreams…"

And then everything made sense. _Yes,_ Akira realized, _I didn't know it myself - but I needed to truly escape… I needed to allow myself to be killed… I just didn't realize it at the time! We needed to die to win!_

And then, as all the pieces came together in his mind, he scowled brilliantly. Akira had gotten himself another shot - a chance to strike back at Shido, when he would never be expecting it.

"Yes…" he told the little girl, "My plan… It's wonderful. Thank you."

"You are welcome," Lavenza said, bowing gracefully, "oh and by the way, Trickster… there is another of your teammates awaiting your attention."

"What?" Akira turned and then saw a familiar cat -

"Morgana!"

"It's been a long time, Joker."

* * *

"Guys!" Akira shouted, bursting back into Leblanc, "check your phones!" They did so, and after a moment of observing the screens, jumped in surprise and let out a collective "What?!"

"The… the Nav…" Makoto said in shock, a stunned expression on her face.

"It's back!" Ryuji shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"When did it reappear?!" Ann asked, skeptical.

"How…" Haru wondered, puzzled, "does this mean… our Personas came back to us?!"

"I think so," Morgana said confidently. "We've been given a second chance!"

"What are we going to do then?" Ryuji asked. "Can we even get to the Metaverse from here?"

"If my theory is correct," Akira said, thinking…

 _The Velvet Room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… right? We're in dream… and mind… so if dream, mind, reality and matter can be freely traversed…_

As he was considering this, the door to Leblanc opened, and Niijima Sae entered. Everyone fell silent. "Everyone… Akira… Makoto… all of you… You… the Phantom Thieves…"

Sae was crying. "Akira, I'm sorry… I'm sorry I ignored your warnings. Makoto, I'm sorry I couldn't save you from Akechi…"

"Sis… Please don't cry…" Makoto went and hugged her sister.

"Makoto…" Sae sobbed. "We're here… where are we?"

"We're in Akira's dream world," Yusuke told her, "a rather strange place."

"We have a plan," Haru told Sae, "a plan to stop Shido."

"Stop… Shido? We're all dead…" Sae rubbed her eyes. "What are you all going to do?"

"This app is on our phones again," Akira said, "and we're going to use it!"

"That… that app…" Sae gasped. "I thought it was some sort of malware…"

Everyone stared at Sae in utter surprise. "You… You have the app too?!" Ann yelped.

"We gotta get to Shido's Palace right away," Akira said, "and investigate."

"But… we don't have the keywords…" Makoto pointed out.

"Oh yes we do," Akira said proudly, "on the way here… I did some snooping on Akechi…"

"Whoa…" Ryuji said, impressed, "so you found the keywords written down somewhere?!"

"Yep," Akira confirmed. "Let's get going now!"

"Wait!" Sae called as they made to leave. Everyone turned around, curious to hear what she had to say.

"I… want to help you all," Sae told them. "It's the least I can do after all that's happened to you… because of my actions."

"It… it wasn't your fault, Sae," Akira assured her. "You couldn't see straight… and neither could I." He couldn't possibly explain that his future self had apparently planned some scheme to die and cleanse his spirit.

"And since I also seem to have this 'navigator,'" Sae added, "I want to see what this is all about… what this is like."

"So does this mean…" Makoto thought for a minute. "We… well, we can't jump to conclusions… but it looks like we might need Sis for some reason."

"Alright," Akira decided, "you can come with us. But be careful. Palaces are really dangerous places." Sae bowed her head in understanding.

* * *

"Shido Masayoshi. Diet Building. Ship."

 _Beginning navigation…_

With that, Akechi entered Shido's Palace from his own dream world. It looked the same as ever. The rising and falling waves flowing between the skyscrapers of Tokyo, the Diet Building exterior planted on the top deck. Akechi had only been here once, briefly - but he knew it would be trouble.

He had no intention of changing his father's heart, however. He was going to destroy this world the other way. Because it was his job. And because he knew his father would rather die than have his heart changed.

* * *

The team stood in front of Akira's dream world Diet Building, and Akira said the words. "Shido Masayoshi. Diet Building. Ship."

 _Beginning navigation…_

"So this is what it's like…" Sae mused, "entering a Palace."

The dream world around them dissolved, and then they were… in front of the Diet Building.

"Wha - it's the same!" Ryuji said. "The same damn place!" Their clothes hadn't changed either.

"Well, there are some differences… this is definitely it," Akira determined. "Let's have a look around."

"I don't see anything," Ryuji said, checking around the side of the Diet Building. "Me neither…" Ann noted.

And then… Futaba shouted something.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" she yelled. "It's - IT'S -"

The team rushed up to where Futaba was standing - the bow of the ship - and saw, much to their shock, an entire country sunk beneath the sea.

"What is going on here?" Akira wondered.

"Oh no…" Morgana reacted.

"THE HELL IS THIS?!" shouted Ryuji.

"This… is… Japan!" Makoto realized. "This is the entirety of Japan underwater!"

"My god…" Sae gasped. "This is… this man's vision for our country?!"

"I can't imagine…" Haru said, stupefied by the sight. "Even though this country may sink, he alone will survive… That's what this cognition is about… huh?"

Akira couldn't believe it. It was the whole country of Japan? How could this be… ?! This man was Prime Minister… they had to stop him!

"A Palace with not only the center of distortion," Morgana said in sheer disbelief, "but the entire country sunken… I can't believe there's someone with this tremendous of a desire. This will be completely different from past Palaces… be careful, everyone!"

"We're definitely gonna take his Treasure!" Ryuji yelled.

"Let us go at once," Yusuke agreed.

Once they got inside the Palace, they all agreed to use codenames, except for Sae of course. The instant they stepped in, their appearances all changed to their Phantom Thief outfits. "We're threats already, hm?" Fox noted.

"It seems Shido doesn't trust anyone…" Morgana observed, "do you see all those passengers with masks?"

Indeed, every single passenger on the ship was wearing a bizarre party mask with their aristocratic outfits. "What the hell's up with that?" Ryuji questioned.

"He must believe that no one shows their true face," Akira suggested. "It would make sense - since he's hiding his true intention - the intention on full display in this horrid world."

* * *

Akechi wandered deeper into the halls of the distorted Diet Building… It felt… new, somehow. New and old simultaneously…

The halls were the same - but some of the masked people looked different. And there were more of them. Shido's cognition of who supported him had changed… naturally. It had been a good several years since Akechi had been here last.

"And the last time I will come here is fast approaching…" he murmured.

An alarm suddenly went off, and several Shadows came out of nowhere and swarmed Akechi. Shido's voice found its way out of the PA system, overwriting the looping recorded speeches which normally played. _"THERE ARE INTRUDERS ONBOARD! I REPEAT - INTRUDERS ONBOARD! ELIMINATE THEM AT ONCE!"_

* * *

 _"THERE ARE INTRUDERS ONBOARD! I REPEAT - INTRUDERS ONBOARD! ELIMINATE THEM AT ONCE!"_

At this noise, Akira and the team jumped. None of Shido's cognitive beings seemed to react. "Did we do something?!" Queen wondered, looking around in a frenzied panic.

"I don't think so…" Mona said… "so the only way this could happen is -"

"Someone else besides us is here in the Palace as we speak," Joker concluded. "Akechi… !"

 _Is he here because of what I told him… Have I… created a new reason for him to oppose us… ?!_

"What are his intentions?!" Fox shouted incredulously. "We must find and apprehend him at once!"

"I agree," Haru said, "if Akechi is infiltrating this Palace as well, we will need to stop him…"

"This is too dangerous for Sis… !" Queen yelped. "I… we need to hurry!"

"We can't have Makoto's sister in danger," agreed Mona, "let's get out of here at once!"

They turned and ran, but as they reached the entrance and made to exit, Joker felt a bright light burn him, and he fell over, his costume singed. It repaired itself immediately… but his pride was still hurt. Joker stood up and looked upon the person who had fired the light bolt at them. It was Akechi…

"Going somewhere?" Akechi said deviously. "Here to infiltrate the Palace… change… another heart?" Akechi laughed wickedly. "Joker… you will never get past these steps."

"I strongly disagree," Joker replied, standing to face the white and orange suited boy. "You're nothing but a child throwing a temper tantrum, Akechi. We will take this Palace's Treasure… and save our country!"

"Oh… but you won't," laughed Akechi, "because I will beat you to it… get my revenge… and Shido Masayoshi will have himself a mental shutdown… a taste of his own medicine! How fitting a fate it will be…"

"After all I told you," gasped Joker, "you continue to fight me?! You continue to antagonize me?! Your coffee cup. I never trusted you… but I believed you."

"Ah, the coffee cup… yes…" Akechi opened his hands and poured out the shards of the broken cup onto the floor. "I almost believed it for a moment… It seems I can even convince you to accept me, even if only for a little bit."

"You conniving bastard… !" Joker gasped. "Everyone… let's get him!"

The Phantom Thieves leapt into action to battle Akechi - but he called for something new… "LOKI!"

"A second Persona?!" Panther yelled. "He has… the same power as…"

"Of course…" Queen realized, groaning, "If he really is the one behind the mental shutdowns, he would've only shown us a fraction of his strength…"

Akechi cackled coldly… chillingly… and with a single move, swept the entire team off their feet. Everyone screamed. "He… he can use two Personas!" shouted Mona. "He's much stronger… we… we have no hope of beating him! Everyone, we must retreat!"

The team turned to flee, but Akechi, now wearing a different, newly menacing, all-black suit, dashed and blocked the door. "Oh no…" he said, "I won't let you leave… until I kill you all… for good!"

"He… he's a monster…" Sae gasped. "He's even worse than I imagined…!"

"Sae-san, ah, you're here with them as well… so you've turned over to like the Phantom Thieves. I see. Well, this has nothing to do with you… so you may leave them to die."

* * *

Sae could not believe her eyes - Akechi was absolutely fiendish - horrifying…

She thought back to the moment she had been killed… the moment Makoto… Makoto…

"SHUT UP!" Sae yelled.

All the world seemed to stop. Akechi looked at Sae with curious surprise. "Sae-san… are you alright?"

"No… I am not… how dare you… " Sae stared at Akechi with absolute utmost hate in her eyes. "I have lived my entire life trapped in a system that would have me oppressed and overworked, all for rewards awarded to men miles below me… A system that would favor a delusional boy over a competent woman… A system that cheated me… that I was forced to cheat against… A society that disillusioned me and robbed me of my true justice…" Sae stood firm, now feeling herself somehow rooted to the ground, as if by a supernatural force… "I will not allow you to continue your delusional murderous rampage… you… you creature… _you scum… I will tear you apart!"_

And then Niijima Sae heard a voice…

 _My, my, how lovely… a game is afoot._

 _You who were wronged by the wicked men in your world… you found yourself causing discord in your life to escape them… you attempted to beat them at their own game, to rise to the top above them. Ah, such strategy is pointless… futile… Men don't play fair. No, men are savages… animals… Don't you agree?!_

"Indeed," Sae agreed, "I will no longer cheat my way through their wretched system… I will show the world my strength!"

Wonderful. Now, let us begin the formation of our vows…

Sae's head hurt… She crumpled to the floor… then something appeared on her face. Something firm… hard… The voice calling to her laughed delightfully.

 _I am thou… thou art I…_

 _Thou shalt no longer be disillusioned with such false justice ever again… such silly dreams of "winning" by turning their own system against them… Today, you may strike back against them like the wretched animals they are…_

"Yes," Sae called out, "I call upon you… _IRENE!"_

Sae pulled away her mask, screaming in pain… And then, there was a flash of deep blue…

* * *

Makoto couldn't believe it… Her sister… had summoned a Persona?!

Sae was now dressed in an elegant-looking and stylish black gown with gold accents, extravagant gold heels, and a white cartwheel hat decorated with bright gold ribbons and black and gold roses. Her mask was similarly styled - it was a white colombina, which held a perfectly symmetrical angular shape. Black lined its edges, with a firm gold line dividing the eyes. Sae's thief gloves were dominantly gold with white hems, and her lips were now neatly lined with bright gold lipstick.

"You fiend…" Sae called out to Akechi, "you deceived me… you destroyed my life… my sister's life… and countless others, both close and far, all at the egotistical whims of one arrogant man…" she looked to Makoto… then turning back to Akechi, "Your father is an ignoble devil of a man and we will _make him pay_ for unleashing you upon us!"

"That… that looks most impressive!" Fox commended. Sae's Persona, Irene, was nearly twice as tall as she was, and sported a long black cloak accentuated by gold, and a similar white hat.

"My goodness…" Noir cried. "This is an astonishing sight…"

"Its… its power…" Oracle said, amazed, "that Persona is completely OP!"

"It seems we shall need to defeat Akechi to proceed any further for the time being," Makoto concluded, "Sis - will you join us?"

Sae nodded, thoroughly enthused. "Let's get this over with!"

But Akechi simply turned and leaped out of reach. "I don't have time for this!" he yelled mockingly.

"What - you afraid to fight?!" yelled Joker. "You coward!"

"I shall see you again soon," Akechi yelled, "when in precisely one week, I shall kill my father's Shadow! Try as you might, but there is no way you will find his Treasure by then… _HAHAHAHA!"_

Akechi leaped away into the air and vanished into the rafters.

* * *

"An adult joining the teenager-composed team of the Phantom Thieves," Fox mused. "What an unexpected occurrence… this world is truly full of surprises."

"I…" Sae was obviously exhausted from her awakening. "I'm not sure I'd stay… I only want to fight back against Shido… for killing the two of us, and all of you… For creating the monster that is Akechi Goro…" She gasped.

"Are you alright, Sis?" Queen seemed concerned.

"No… I just noticed this strange outfit… I hope it doesn't make me look silly…"

"Well, you can decide for yourself,' Joker said, handing her a hand mirror.

"Where did you get that, dude?!" Skull shouted.

"Cognition of a mirror, genius," Joker replied.

Sae took a look at herself in the mirror and was instantly startled by how she looked. "This… this hat… and this mask…" She looked the costume over, then smiled. "Actually, I think I could take to this. It isn't half-bad."

"What would her codename be…" Panther mused.

"How about 'Diamonds,'" suggested Fox, "because of the gold colors punctuating her costume."

"No way am I calling Sis that!" Queen shouted at him.

"How about 'Heels?'" Ryuji proposed. "It makes sense 'cause of those shoes!"

"That sounds rather silly and inelegant," Noir replied.

Sae seemed to agree. "Neither of those 'codenames' appeal to my tastes. The whole concept seems rather silly in fact, but if I must use one, I would prefer something that sounds… fierce yet ladylike, somehow."

"Joker, what do you think?" Mona asked.

Joker thought it over for a moment, then said, "I actually can't think of anything. Let's figure it out later. What we really need to focus on first is our plan for this Palace…"

"Yeah," Queen said, "what are we going to do about Akechi?"

"Akechi challenged us to finish within a week," Joker said, "before he kills Shido by mental shutdown. He's underestimating us yet again… he thinks we'll fail. We have to prove him wrong by that time - this will be a much shorter deadline than with other Palaces. And much more difficult - but I know we can do it!"

He tightened his gloves with the utmost determination. "We can't allow Shido to have a mental shutdown! If he does, our only chance to reveal the truth goes out the window! Our names will never be cleared if that happens. We need to stop Akechi - and save this country!"

"But," Sae pointed out, expressing confusion, "We're dead, right? What good would clearing your names do?"

"Oh…" Joker said, "yeah, we're dead. In the physical sense. But our souls remain in this dream world… until we reenter reality from here to send the calling card."

"How are we going to reenter reality?" Noir asked. "I don't think I understand."

"Didn't you notice?" Joker smirked. "The Nav got an update."

Everyone took out their phones and took a look… indeed, the Metaverse Navigator was flashing a notification at them - _UPDATE DOWNLOADED AND APPLIED. NEW TRAVEL OPTIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE._

There were now two new choices in the menu - "Return to reality," and "Return to the dream world."

"I see…" Panther realized, "so we stay 'dead' in the dream world, and then we go back to reality to send the calling card… and…"

"Precisely!" Joker exclaimed. "Yes - the Phantom Thieves of Hearts will strike once more from beyond the grave!" He let out a long, jovial mischievous laugh.

He and Akechi had resumed their game, only this time, the rules were clear. He could see all the places on the board. It was no longer a battle of wits - it was a race for who would first claim the future.

* * *

 _ **Edited Opening Note (from AO3 version, originally published 6/02/2017):**_ Okay, so, discarded idea notes time!

Originally, there was going to be a time travel deal where Lavenza brought Sae, Akira, and Akechi forth to a future Velvet Room, and told them to go back and fix what went wrong the day of the interrogation. Akira was going to do some sorta beaming memories thing to help himself remember, Akechi had some kinda "stop himself from being evil" task and Sae was going to infiltrate her own Palace with the both of them in the limited time window before her Treasure vanished, and steal her own heart to ensure her past self's cooperation with the plan. They would then encounter and then fight a Cognitive Makoto representing Sae's cognition of her as a burden - cogn. Makoto was below the Palace or something, leeching from the casino earnings and being all gloaty about it etc. Sae would then awaken to her Persona, defeat this Makoto and mail her Treasure to the real Makoto once it was all over before fading away into the present Sae (cause time travel and two of the same person can't keep existing).

When Lavenza started carrying on and on and on in the many attempts I made at realizing this plotline, it made my head hurt, so I wrote the coffee chapter instead (and you all know what happened with that.) I was still going to try and figure out the Sae stealing her own heart idea, but later I realized it kinda made no sense in this context (as far as I could tell) and opted to abandon that arc and decide to create a new plotline, tentatively called "Coming Back From the Dead," in my docs. Continuing forward without any actual time travel going on, instead of going backwards which ultimately proved counter-intuitive. Rather, I built upon the whole dream/reality/world connection concept I'd previously established.

Akechi was going to help, but after two comments from someone who went by "bloodknight" saying it didn't make any sense for him to be being all nice and stuff now, I discovered some clarity regarding his place in the story. And then I realized... hey, wouldn't it make more sense if... ? Yeah. The story circumstances were almost begging him to remain a baddie, especially since I needed some stakes for completing Shido's Palace since in this story he's already been elected. And him triggering Sae's Persona awakening was a huge plus.

Credit should be given here to MisterParagon on the P5 subreddit [link to thread cut out here for obvs reasons] for the idea to use Irene Adler as Sae's Persona. I had quite a lot of trouble figuring that out.

Also, today [was] Akechi's birthday. How fitting that for his special day he goes to do some evil shit.


	16. Infiltration Day One

"Hang on," Panther said, "Akechi said he would kill Shido in a week. What day is it today?"

"The 21st of December, 2016, I believe…" Sae noted, "what does that mean for your plan? I'm not familiar with all the steps in this process."

"We first need to locate the Treasure," Joker explained, "then we send a calling card to make it physically materialize so we can actually steal it. After our target sees the calling card, we go in, defeat their Shadow and steal the Treasure from the Palace."

"Yes," Makoto confirmed. "That means that Akechi will be back here to induce Shido's mental shutdown on the 28th. We must find the Treasure by the 26th, and send the calling card on the 27th. I am quite certain that along the way we will encounter Akechi again, and have to defeat him as well."

"We'll defeat him!" Oracle said confidently. "He won't stand a chance against us if we come prepared - I'm sure of it!"

"We can tell time in the dream world, correct?" Fox said. "It's not a different time zone or anything?"

"It should be fine," Joker assured him, "I'm certain that the dream clock is in alignment with the real world clock."

"Very well," Mona said, "we'll begin our infiltration tomorrow. Let's leave the Palace for now!"

* * *

 _ **12/22/2016**_

 _The Plan To Steal **Shido's** Heart has **begun.** Try to steal your target's heart by your **deadline.**_

 _ **Days Until Mental Shutdown: 6**_

 _ **MISSION START!**_

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts were back on deck, ready to overtake the ship's captain.

"All right, we're back!" Mona said. "Now, we need to decide on our new member's codename." Everyone took a good look at Sae's Phantom Thief costume. "Tallest, perhaps?" Yusuke suggested. "She is the tallest of us all…"

"No… that is a horrible moniker," Sae responded. "It's much too bland and nondescript of my actual personality."

"Gold? Or Ring," Panther proposed, "because of your colors?"

Sae shook her head. "Those sound too literal."

"Primadonna?" Futaba asked. "Or, maybe something like… Contralto? Or Adventuress?"

"Tempting." Sae mused. "Rather theatrical propositions…"

"How about… Highness?" Noir offered.

"No," Queen replied, "that's nearly a carbon copy of my codename. We would get confused very easily. It's also not particular creative." Noir looked disappointed.

"Hm… your codename…" Joker murmured thoughtfully.

"Joker?" Mona asked, and the team turned their attention onto him. "What do you think?"

 _Makoto's codename… Queen. Yeah. She's the Queen… I'm the Joker… I'm her boyfriend… Sae's her sister…_

 _The Queen… The Joker… The -_

"Ace," Joker said suddenly. "It makes the most sense."

"Yeah," Queen realized, "I'm Queen, Akira's Joker… Ace. The highest value card in the deck. It fits."

"Ace…" Sae mused, "That's not quite along the lines of what I imagined. But I like the sound of it… And it's very quick and simple."

"Sounds good to me!" Oracle said. "We'll call you Ace from here on out!"

 _Ace,_ Sae mused to herself. _My "codename…" Interesting. I quite like it._

* * *

Sae - no, she had to get used to her new "codename." Ace followed her new teammates through the main hall of the ship, over top of a large red carpet which blanketed their path forward. Said path lay underneath a wall full of bogus campaign posters featuring Shido's face, which ominously read, _"I'll Exploit All Japan's People For My Own Twisted Ends."_

Ace was extremely disturbed by this slogan… the meaning behind Shido's election as Prime Minister was not subtle in the slightest within his Palace.

"Hrmmm… I can sense the Treasure's presence!" the cat creature - Morgana, his name was… no, wait, Mona, his codename - told them. "It's that way. Let's go, everyone!"

Akira - Joker - rushed forth to an enormous set of doors, labeled _REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER_ , and the team, along with Ace, all followed after him. Joker approached the doors and waved. "Hello out there!" he called flippantly. His call for attention was not reciprocated.

"These doors are pretty damn big," Ryuji - Skull - observed, adding, "Wonder what's goin' on in there."

"There are slots…" Futaba - Oracle - observed. "For like, a keycard… Five of them!"

 _"FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE people in favor, ZERO against."_ called out a deep, commanding voice from a speaker mounted above a television which was positioned near the door. _Zero against?_ Ace thought. _Against what?_

 _"Since it is unopposed, this bill will be unanimously passed as drafted."_

"Passed?!" Skull questioned. "That Shido's voice? The hell's happening here?"

"If this is truly the Representatives Chamber…" Makoto - Queen, now - explained, "then beyond this door must be the assembly hall…"

"What?!" Skull seemed a little confused.

"The large conference room on the news."

"Ohhh okay. I gotcha - what're they doin' inside?"

"Zero against…" Ace wondered.

"It sounds like they're taking a meaningless vote in which the bills Shido proposes will never be opposed." Queen explained.

"Not dissimilar to what I have heard you all witnessed in my own Palace…" Ace realized. This realization chilled her a little - to think she could ever have had a heart anything in common with Shido.

Everyone was quiet for a moment at these words.

"Anyway," Ace went on. "The keycard slot things Futa - er, Oracle, noticed. What are those for?"

"Was wonderin' that too," Skull chimed in.

"We need some sort of qualification, it looks like," Mona theorized, "which shows our support for Shido somehow, or that we've sworn loyalty to his cause."

"Swear… loyalty?!" Haru - Noir - said slowly. "How are we…" Everyone else seemed to share similar sentiments. They all looked rather conflicted about this. Except Joker.

"This'll be easy - Chill out," Joker assured the team. "We'll just have to fake it."

"I see…" Ace noted. "So we need to pretend to support Shido in order to gain these access keys, or whatever they are."

"Why don't we try asking around?" Noir suggested.

"That's a great idea," Joker said, "I'm sure we'll learn something useful that way."

"I never thought of that…" Oracle noted.

"But," Ace inquired, "aren't these people not real - cognitions, they were called? Aren't they something like dolls? Will asking them about how to get in there do us any good?"

"Well, not exactly," Mona explained, "they're the cognitive versions of Shido's followers from his mind - they'll know any secrets he's shared with them."

"Assuming Shido remembers that he's shared such secrets," Ann - Panther - added.

"Well…" Yusuke - Fox - noted, "they could turn hostile."

"Hmm, yeah," Panther said, "what if they attack us?"

"We should prepare for the worst," Mona said. "But we have to at least try, right, Joker?"

"Yeah," Joker said. "Let's split up and go talk to some of them."

"But I can't talk… I'm a noob! A social noob!" Oracle protested. "I have poor social skills!"

"I can help you!" Fox offered. "My social skills are truly unique in style."

"Fox," Joker said, "Now's not the time to teach Oracle your 'unique social skills.' Oracle, if you don't want to talk with anyone, you can eavesdrop on them, okay? Just find whatever you can."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and, eager to gather the needed intel, all rushed off to talk to the cognitions.

* * *

"Okay," Mona said, once they were all back in the safe room, "There's something we should keep in mind. Do you all recall what Ace asked earlier? It's actually a very relevant question."

"I asked a relevant question?"

"Yeah," Joker said, "about the cognitions. I believe you called them 'dolls.'"

"You were correct, Sis," Queen said, "most cognitive beings are dolls - just generic copies of humans, simply based on the cognition that humans are there but not detailed any further than that. Does everyone remember the police station in her cognition?"

* * *

 _"They aren't doing anything…"_

 _"They have no reason to be acting in her cognition at the moment. Niijima Sae is cognitive of these people being here - but not of what they're doing at this moment in time. Couple that with the fact that she doesn't personally know any of them, or have any clue what they'd do if the Phantom Thieves waltzed in here - and you've got a whole bunch of blank slates."_

* * *

"Yeah," Joker remembered. To think of how easy it had been to enter that place - and the ultimate futility in that trip. "I mean, it's not the cognition in your main Palace - the casino - acted any different exactly. But some cognitions are different, or special somehow. Sometimes they talk to us. From time to time we had to fight them. But, mostly they just sit there."

"Like NPCs in a video game!" Oracle suddenly said triumphantly. Everyone looked at her, startled. "Er…"

"Yes, actually," Joker said, "they're exactly like that. Except… these NPCs - uh, non playable characters -" he clarified, in response to Ace's look of confusion, "- are written with more detailed code… Which means, in essence, that Shido is a better coder."

"I see… !" Ace realized. "So because he sees more of these people as they are, there are more of them appearing as they are. That seems to make sense."

"All right!" said Mona, "let's go over the information we found."

…

…

…

"So, we have five VIP guys to get letters from," Joker said, "A politician, a former noble, a TV station president, an IT company president, and a… 'cleaner…' hmm!"

"What the hell's a cleaner?" Skull asked.

"I think I might know," Joker said, "when I was following Akechi around, wandering the real world as my dream self ghost… thing, I tried to encourage him to turn to our side. It was no use of course…" Joker sighed in deep disappointment. "But, he did yell a whole lot at Shido. Shido of course got mad, and then one of his dudes smashed Akechi's stupid head open - but before that, he called for a 'cleaner…'"

"So the cleaner was cleaning up after Akechi?" Fox mused, "that sounds like a terribly disgusting job…"

"He's supposed to be rather cautious," said Mona, "it's best we leave him for last to be on the safe side."

"Makes sense," Panther said, "although, a cleaner? Like, a janitor? I gotta wonder about how that guy gets his VIP status."

"Must be… really good at cleaning!" Noir nervously suggested. "I just hope he's not dangerous."

"Normally," Mona said, "I would suggest that we go back for today. But we only have five days to infiltrate this Palace, including today. We should find at least one letter today."

"In that case," Queen proposed, "We should pace ourselves by finding only one letter each of those five days, and going to the Treasure on that fifth day."

"So we will need to get the letters from each of these VIPs, which then open the door, which will open the way to this 'Treasure…'" Ace said, coming to understand.

"Yep yep," Oracle said. "That's about it!"

"And we have to beat Akechi to the punch. He has to find these letters of introduction too," Joker pointed out, "otherwise he won't be able to get to Shido to kill him. He has been to this Palace before, but he's only been here once ages ago, and he never saw much of it. He shouldn't hold too much of an advantage over us."

"Okay!" Noir concurred, "seems easy enough. Let's do this!"

"Oh, and by the way," Ace said, smiling pleasantly, "I found what appears to be a map of the Palace." She proceeded to show them a medium sized knapsack, which she then emptied onto the table, revealing not just one map but dozens of maps, which spilled out from the table and all around on the floor. The team stared at her like she was crazy.

"A map - FOR REAL?!" Skull shouted. "That's like a hundred frickin' maps! The Palace is that big?!"

"Of course not, stupid," Panther said, "it's all many copies of the same map!"

"Yes," said Ace, "I thought it would be important to disadvantage Akechi if given the opportunity, so I took all the maps. And I left a calling card saying that we'd taken them. Isn't that what the Phantom Thieves would do?"

"Uh…" Queen said, "where did you get a calling card?"

"I simply kept the one you all sent to me," Ace said, smiling. "I happened to have it, as well as a nice thick marker, so I put it to good use. Now, shall we go find this first VIP?"

… Everyone was either amazed that Ace had thought of this, or that the rest of them hadn't thought of this themselves. Perhaps both.

"Good work, Ace." Joker finally said after a few moments of stunned silence. "All right, everyone, let's go!"

* * *

Akechi wandered the main hall, looking around for information on how to enter the Representatives Chamber, where Shido's Shadow would be found. There was no obvious way to enter, but then he overheard a cognition speaking about a "letter of introduction." Hmm…

He took a look at the five slots in the door. Letter of introduction, hm? Was there no way to simply bypass that nonsense and break into there? Akechi didn't see a clear way to do so. What a nuisance… It wasn't like he hadn't faced such barricades in Palaces before, but they always quite annoyed him when they arose.

It was then that Akechi noticed a small red glint in the distance. Curious, he rushed over to investigate. It was a red piece of paper - a Phantom Thieves calling card?! - in the place of… maps. The wooden furnishing here had once held dozens of maps, and it was now empty save for the calling card… _Damn it! I should have taken one with me yesterday._

He took the calling card and flipped it over. It had once said something else - he thought he could make out "Niijima," "sinner," and "jealousy," underneath the messy marker scribbles which cancelled out the old text. The new words read as follows:

 _Sir Akechi Goro, the Despicable Murderer Behind the Mass Mental Shutdowns,_

 _We got here first, and have taken all the maps, greatly impeding your progress in your deplorable quest to murder the corrupt politician Shido Masayoshi, your own father, to satisfy your selfish and frivolous desire of revenge. This will assist greatly in ensuring our victory against you. Sucker! ;)_

 _From, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts 3 3 3_

Akechi indignantly kicked the wooden housing in which the maps belonged, yelling in fury. He crumpled up the calling card and threw it away in the general direction of a trash can.

* * *

Grinning brilliantly, Ace tossed the sack of maps out the window and into the drowning country beneath them.

"Weren't those hearts a bit much, Ace?" Queen wondered.

"Yes, and the addition of 'sucker.'" Fox added, "I did not think you were one to use triple exclamation points in such a flamboyant manner."

"It just seemed like something that the Phantom Thieves would write. Should I have done it differently?"

"Welllll it did seem like you might've been tryin' a bit too har -" Skull began, but Joker shut him up.

"Absolutely not," Joker said, with his usual killer victory scowl, "I'm sure it got on Akechi's nerves quite a bit. It was wonderfully done, Ace!"

"I see," Ace smiled gently at everyone. She was immensely proud of herself at having taken so quickly to the ways of a Phantom Thief.

* * *

Upon stealing the membership card and arriving at the restaurant, the team began to plan how to get the first letter. "So," Panther asked, "do we steal it from him or ask for it?"

"I would advise against stealing it if at all possible," Mona suggested, "We don't want to raise any alarms. We should try asking for it, and then steal it only if we can't get it. Try not to make this Ooe guy mad."

"Alright then," Joker told them, "so that guy at the desk mentioned reserved seats. Now, since that's the only reserved seat I see around here, I think it's safe to assume it belongs to Mr. Ooe."

"We should take a seat at a nearby table and wait for him to arrive," Queen suggested. "I'll go. He may become guarded if we go in a big group."

"It may seem odd with one lonely girl sitting there," Noir pointed out.

"Yeah," said Joker, smiling at his Queen, "I'll go with you."

Queen laughed. "Joker, if you do that, you'll just end up treating this like a date - Oh no, don't say that's not what you were thinking!" she said reproachfully, as Joker opened his mouth to respond. "I know that look when I see it."

"I'll go with her," Ace said, "the two of us together will make the most diplomatic pair."

"Hold up!" Skull said, "I wanted to go! Come on, this is a restaurant! I wanna sample the great food!"

"You can't eat food in a Palace…" Oracle told him, "It tastes disgusting."

"What - how would you know?!" Skull yelled.

"Trust me, I've tried."

"You might have different tastes or somethin'!"

"Why is nobody asking me to do this?!" Mona protested.

"Oh, stop bickering," Joker interjected, "Skull, go with Ace and Queen. Everyone else, stand by."

"Three people?" Panther asked, "will that really be a good idea?!

"It's alright," Ace said, "We can pretend to be a family in which I'm the mother."

"What?!" Skull was nonplussed by the thought. "That sounds a little weird."

"Wait, doesn't that mean you'd need a father?" Joker wondered.

"Joker!" Queen reprimanded him. "Just stay here."

Joker shrugged. "Good luck, you three."

* * *

"I can't read this…" Skull groaned, staring at the menu. Queen flagged the waiter over.

"I'll have the sauteed foie gras, a salad garnished with truffles, and roasted lamb, please."

"A lobster frittata, if you please," Ace contributed, "with a glass of Chateau Lafite."

"Are you of drinking age?" the waiter questioned.

"Yes…" Ace was puzzled by the inquiry. "Why?"

"Pardon me for asking. You all look quite young." The waiter walked away to fetch the food.

"How can the two of you order so easily like that?!" Skull said incredulously, then, turning to Ace, "and what're you thinkin' ordering wine? You're makin' them suspicious of us!"

"No one cares about that usually," Queen pointed out.

"I've never had someone ask that of me… it's not common…" Ace noted, then shrugged. "Ryu - Skull, please control yourself."

Skull looked annoyed, but shrugged it off. "Hey, aren't all these people kinda older than us?" he noted. Queen and Ace looked around. He was correct - most of the people around appeared to be in their 40s or 50s. "Well," Queen pointed out, "they're all major figures in the political or financial worlds, so it stands to reason that they -"

"On whose permission are you sitting here, brats?!" A tall stuck-up man in an expensive suit approached the table.

"Uhh… I don't see any reserved signs or nothin'..." Skull responded.

"I would like to dine leisurely," the man asserted, "if you're simply hungry and will cause a racket, you ought to leave."

"What… ?!"

"Skull!" Queen stood up, and Ace followed suit. Skull murmured an apology and sat back down.

"My apologies for our discourtesy," Queen said to the man.

"Well, then go home."

"Pardon me for asking," Ace wondered, "but are you the prestigious politician Mr. Ooe? I do love your speeches."

Ooe was taken aback by Ace's flattery. "Uh, yes, indeed I am - what do you want?!"

"This will be an impudent request," Queen picked up, "but would you provide us a letter of introduction to… Mr. Shido?"

"Why would you need one? You seem to be very young people."

"We would love to be granted an audience with him," Ace said pleasantly, bowing her head, "his political ideology and beliefs line up with our own quite well."

Queen nodded. "Truly. Of course, the same can be said about yourself, Mr. Ooe."

* * *

"Do they look like they're doing okay there?" Mona asked.

"Seem so… the politician appears to be smiling," Fox observed. "This may yet be a success for us."

"Don't let your guard down," Joker warned.

In the distance, Ace and Queen continued chatting with a pleased-looking Ooe, while Skull sat idly watching.

"Was sending Skull even necessary?" Noir wondered, "he doesn't appear to be being very useful."

"Yeah," Oracle said. "Oh… he said something about the principal… and mental shutdowns… Ace and Queen don't look very happy."

"Don't freak out," Panther said cautiously, "they seem to be keeping their cool."

The three continued discussing the matter of the mental shutdowns…

* * *

"Do you recall the subway accident last spring? The one I targeted was that engineer. It was to discredit the president of some company and a diplomat who was siding with current government."

"The subway accident - that was you?!" Skull shouted, not believing it. "You lit -" But before he could say anything more, Ace shoved him roughly back into his seat.

"That was very useful, Mr. Ooe," Ace told Ooe, smiling at him with a triumphant look in her eyes. "I'll have you know… I'm a public prosecutor with the SIU…"

"Wha - the one that died?!"

"The very same," Ace said, grinning proudly, "I could build a case against you if ever I get this information back to those in authority…"

"Yes," Queen said in a cheery tone of voice, "My sister here is very effective at that… How about it? Won't you give us a letter of introduction?"

"I - Are you threatening me?!" Ooe shouted.

"Please," Ace said, pleasantly, "do make this easy on yourself."

"You - you brats! I'll never give you one!" Ooe began emitting some sort of odd black steam from his feet.

* * *

"Wha -" Mona was astonished. "How is it transforming into a Shadow… that should be impossible!"

"I knew I should've gone with them…" Joker groaned.

"Joker! Forget that!" Panther said, "come along and let's get this done with!"

The team rushed to intervene as Ooe transformed into a large multi-headed snake creature.

"KAMU SUSANO-O!" Fox shouted, tearing away his mask, "BUFUDYNE!"

Nothing happened.

"IRENE - COME!" Ace leaped high into the air above Ooe's Shadow form, casting a darkness spell upon it. Ooe dodged and made a move to counterattack, but Noir intervened with a well timed Psiodyne from Asarte, knocking the creature off its feet. "GET HIM!" shouted Noir.

Within a few short moments, Ooe was defeated and reverted back to his original form. Seizing the opportunity, Skull swiftly pickpocketed the letter from his pocket and high-fived everyone. "YEAH! We got it!"

"Uhh…" Ooe groaned. "Please keep the truth of the subway accident a secret."

"Fine, whatever," Skull conceded, reluctantly.

"It turns out Principal Kobayakawa was connected to Shido…" Queen mused regrettably. "No wonder he was so insistent about me finding information about the Phantom Thieves."

"He had you investigating the Phantom Thieves?" Ace said in surprise.

"Before Kaneshiro," Queen clarified, "when I joined the team."

"Yeah," Joker said, "I caught her investigating. It was pretty wild." Queen slapped him. "Ow… geez, I didn't say anything…"

"In any case," Oracle commented, "that Ooe… I think Shido's using my mom's research to do something. It was like a cognition fused with a Shadow…"

"That's possible?!" Fox said in shock. "How on Earth…"

"I'm not sure I follow this…" Ace seemed a little confused. "Aren't cognitions and Shadows different?"

"Usually yes, and it's not normally possible to fuse traits of the two," Mona explained. "I couldn't believe it myself - it seems Shido could quite possibly have some way of tampering with his own Palace. We need to be especially careful from here on out!"

"All right," Queen said, "we got one letter of introduction for today, so let's go back."

The Phantom Thieves departed from the ship and returned to the dream world.

* * *

Sae was rather tired out. The Metaverse was a very strange place, full of all sorts of unsolved mysteries. She carefully considered all that had happened.

The interrogation. Makoto's initial arrest. Her learning of Akechi's other side. Her death, her second chance at life, this strange Palace world formed from Shido Masayoshi's distorted desires. The very Phantom Thieves she had been attempting to prosecute not too long ago… Akira, she had drilled for information. Makoto she had saved, then scolded.

But she had befriended them, joined them even, and now she was working with them to save Japan from an arrogant lunatic. It was a strange set of circumstances indeed. And her new name. Ace.

"Sis," Makoto inquired, "are you alright?"

"I'm okay," she said. "How are we supposed to rest around here? In a world with no sleep."

"The best you can do is fake it," Makoto explained, "just lie down, close your eyes… and pretend. That's what I did next to Akira yesterday."

"Akira…" Sae mused, "You've been dating Akira?"

"Yes," Makoto confirmed, "is - is that a problem?"

"I was wondering why you spoke of him so fondly," Sae said, "that he reminded you of our father…"

Makoto swallowed.

"I see why you said that. He has a deep, honest kindness about him… it's very sweet. I can tell he cares for you and your friends."

They were quiet for a moment.

The door dinged open. "Hey," Akira said as he walked in, "are you all okay here? We should probably go to bed…"

"In Leblanc?" Makoto said. "The… the dream Leblanc?" She seemed a little reluctant to sleep in Leblanc. "And, uh, where's everyone else?"

"Finding sleeping bags," Akira said, "apparently I dreamed the shops into existence too, and because there are no other people in the entire dream Tokyo, everything is pretty much free… Ryuji's trying to grab as much loot as he can."

"How silly of him," Sae opined.

It was funny that she was basically living with a bunch of teenagers for five days… in this strange dream world. Sae recalled several years ago, when she had spent a night with a bunch of other students on a school trip, camping out at the Meiji Shrine… this wasn't dissimilar. Just there weren't any teachers.

Sae supposed she was the teacher…

"Morgana's yelling at us all to go to sleep despite the fact that it's impossible to sleep…" Akira noted, breaking Sae's reverie. "It's rather annoying of him."

Akira sat down next to Makoto. "Akira," she asked, "where's Morgana now?"

"Still with them," Akira said, "trying to get them to quit shopping and come back… why?"

"Can we… go upstairs?"

Akira nodded gently and wrapped his arms around Makoto. They departed upstairs, and Sae let them be. She decided to try her hand at making coffee. She'd never done so, outside of instant coffee with the coffee maker at the SIU…

Sae's coffee tasted disgusting, and she never attempted it again.

* * *

"Sir!" said the waiter at the front of the restaurant, "you need a membership card -" But Akechi whipped out his pistol and promptly shot him in the face. He was quite furious - the Phantom Thieves had tricked him like the fools they were, and it had taken him quite awhile to figure out the location of Ooe. Akechi was taking no nonsense from anyone.

Normally, that action would have provoked a lot of screaming and yelling, but Shido's cognitions ignored Akechi's blatant murder. Unopposed, he sauntered into the restaurant and found the politician Ooe, sitting at his reserved table and talking casually to others.

"Mr. Ooe," Akechi said, "I am Akechi Goro, the one who triggered a mental shutdown for you last spring… I would like your letter of introduction."

"My letter of introduction?" Ooe suddenly became panicked. "I - I don't have it!"

"You don't?" Akechi was surprised. "Why - what happened?!"

"It was stolen!"

"By whom… ?"

"The - the -" A frightened Ooe finally choked out the words after a good five seconds of stammering, "The Phantom Thieves!"

"... I see."

 **bang.**

The cognitive Ooe dropped dead and melted away into blackness.

"What a wimp," Akechi mused, "It seems they've gotten the better of me again. It appears I'm not moving fast enough… In that case, I shall have to do my best to pose a greater challenge to Joker and his friends." Akechi tucked away his pistol and left the Palace, intending to return as early as possible the following day and get a head start against the Phantom Thieves.

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (Published on AO3 6/03/2017):**_ So, I've decided I'll be covering each of the five days of the infiltration in five chapters. There'll be a lot of additional dialogue created about swimsuits and mice and so on and so on, plus Akechi will continue to chase them and I have a few ideas of some specific things that'll go down. For Sae's codename, I decided to go with Ace because it made the most sense to me, and while using Irene Adler's aliases from Doyle's original story was an awesome idea I ultimately chose Ace to keep it short and sweet.

I actually didn't know what the deal was with drinking in Japan, so I googled it, and found out that the drinking age's basically a law that's not really enforced and no one really cares about it. I thought about just cutting that dialogue with Sae ordering wine altogether, but I thought it'd make sense for Shido's ship to be more particular about that kinda thing than other establishments so I opted to have Sae be surprised at being asked instead. (btw, I'm 18, live in the US, never touched alcoholic beverages in my life (drinking age is 21 here))

Anyhow, hope this was fun. Five more chapters of this and then they'll send the calling card and stuff, and things will get exciting again. Thanks for reading!


	17. Infiltration Day Two

_**Original Opening Note (Published 6/04/2017):**_ Not much to say today. There were a lot of typos in the last chapter. I tried to be better at proofreading here. I also had the idea to follow the cleaner around as he tries to stop both Akechi and the Phantom Thieves, so that's implemented here.

* * *

"Geez," said the cleaner, a tall, buff, heavily tattooed man wearing a clean, purplish-brown shirt, "what a goddamn mess. Who the hell was here?!"

"The security cameras seem to show an unidentified guy in a black outfit, sir," one of the guard Shadows said. "He walked in here with no membership card and, after apparently demanding something from Mr. Ooe, shot him point blank in the face."

"What a cheap punk," the cleaner fumed, "And what's this about Phantom Thieves? Is he related to them?"

"We found a 'calling card' from these so called 'Phantom Thieves,' addressed to a 'Sir Akechi Goro.' The handwriting is atrocious, however, and it was quite ruined, having been crumpled up twice apparently, so we were unable to read it properly. It says something about a 'deplorable quest.'"

"Akechi, huh? Isn't that kid dead?"

"I dunno. Tell it to the Phantom Thieves."

The cleaner was extremely irritated by the mess which had been caused. He was even further irritated by the fact that when such things happened, hardly anyone bothered to tell him. However, he was extremely impressed that the somehow back-from-the-dead Akechi and these supposed Phantom Thieves were going to so much trouble for whatever it is they were seeking.

"Before that, a party of lavishly dressed individuals harassed Mr. Ooe. They were reportedly seeking his letter of introduction. We're not sure if they obtained it or not."

"Beating him up for his letter of introduction, huh? Man, this place is gone to the dogs cause of all these punks. Guess we've gotta track them down and end this nuisance before Captain Shido complains…"

* * *

"Woo!" Ryuji said, "we've got foods and stuffs for days! Who knew dream food could be soooo good!" The gang, sans Akira, Makoto, and Sae, were all "shopping" in the deserted Shibuya underground mall, taking advantage of the lack of clerks in existence who would otherwise discourage shoplifting.

"The word is 'foodstuffs,'" Haru corrected him. "By the way, where did Akira and Mako-chan go?"

"Back to Leblanc," Futaba said. "I can see them right now. They're quite occupied at the moment. Wanna see?"

"Wha - no, we don't need that," Ann told Futaba. "Why are you watching them anyway?"

"Oh? I'm not. I was only kidding. I wouldn't do that. Well, I guess I could…"

"Futaba!"

Ryuji wasn't paying attention to any of this.

"Guys!" Morgana complained. "Come on, aren't you tired? You gotta go to sleep!"

"But we can't sleep!" Ryuji countered, "it's a whole sleepworld!" He loaded some more food into his bag. "Yusuke, what are you doing?"

"With this much art supplies on top of the ones I already have, I shouldn't need to buy more for a good few months once we return," Yusuke said.

"You realize we're dead, right?" Futaba pointed out, "any art supplies you had were probably thrown, given, or sold away."

"Ah, that is true," Yusuke realized, "in that case I shall need even more of them… and I shall need to perfectly repaint the paintings which were undoubtedly disposed of upon my death as well."

"Is that really necessary?!" Ann wondered, "it would probably take you quite a long time."

"Art takes time," Yusuke countered, "it is simply the way it is."

"So does infiltrating Palaces, by the way," Morgana pointed out. "We won't have time to - Ryuji! Why are you taking all those DVDs?"

"Why do you think? So we can watch 'em!"

"We're not going to have time to watch them!" Morgana yelled, "we're only here for a few more days and we have to infiltrate the Palace and get those letters! And you all need to go back to Leblanc and rest up already!"

"Morgana, shut it!" Ann told him, "you're not my mom!"

Morgana mewed angrily and walked away. "I'm going back to Leblanc myself then! I'll see you all at the Palace tomorrow! Don't blame me if you all get tired and some lame-ass low level Shadows hand your asses to you! _MEWWW!"_

* * *

 _ **12/23/2016**_

 _ **Days Until Mental Shutdown: 5**_

"What the shit?! We're mice?" Skull yelled - squeaked?

"It appears so," Queen murmured.

"This is prepawsterous!... or something like that!" Fox commented.

"Well," Joker noted, flippantly, "we at least have very cute paws."

"Wait, are we squeaking? Does that mean we're speaking mouse?!" Ace questioned. "Do odd things like this always happen to you in Palaces?"

"MMM yeah. For sure." Panther replied.

"Just come back here!" Oracle called at them.

* * *

"Hey," Joker called, "I found a teeny-tiny secret passage! I think we can fit! It's gonna be pretty snug though. I hope you didn't eat a big breakfast this morning!"

"I had three helpings of curry," Fox told them.

"Three helpings?!" Noir yelled in surprise. "Why, all I had was a small portion of rice and bread…"

"Whatever," Skull said, "let's just get the hell in there!" Joker nodded in agreement and shoved himself into the air duct. "Okay," he said, "whatever doors we go through, make sure we lock them behind us to make this harder on Akechi, got it?"

The team climbed into the air duct, talking along the way as they went.

"It's cramped in here!" Mona shouted, "reminds me of the school desks actually."

"Whooooaaaa," Skull noticed, "our voices echo!"

"Fascinating!" Fox opined. "I wish to one day draw an echo…"

"What on earth would an echo look like?" Panther wondered.

"I do not know, myself," admitted Fox, "Perhaps something like a multicolored blob of speed, or a quick-footed creature living in a hollow tube or some such oddity."

"What makes you think an echo looks like that?!" Oracle inquired.

"You all are so strange," Ace commented, "It feels so… odd… to be working with you. I do hope I'm not being a burden."

"Sis," Queen told Ace, "you know you can lighten up around us. We're not the SIU."

"I suppose that's true… this type at atmosphere is somewhat new to me."

"Don't worry about it," Queen said, smiling as best she could in her mousy form.

"Man, how long have we been in here?!" shouted Skull. "This is a long ass shortcut!"

"Well," Joker called back, "I've been very entertained by these conversations, so I stopped at the end to prolong our time in here so we could chat a bit more."

"WHA - dude! That ain't necessary! We can do that in a safe room!"

"I agree," Noir called out, "we should proceed forth."

Joker and the party emerged from the other end into the halls of the ships' quarters. They were immediately met with an ambush from a Shadow that happened to be passing by as they emerged.

"DAMN IT!" Joker cursed, "I should have looked before we leapt!"

"No worries!" shouted Oracle, and Prometheus flew into the air as she deployed a quick Position Hack, turning the tide and allowing the team to have the advantage instead. "We got 'em!"

"AHHH!" shouted the enemy, a large jolly looking creature with a crown, scepter, and a strange snowman like face. "HEE HO - please let me live, oh, have mercy, ho!"

"I implore you to join my cause!" shouted Joker, with utter conviction and confidence, as Yoshida had taught him.

"Hee - you've convinced me - ho! I'm **King Frost** ," the Shadow proclaimed, "ho! I'm you and you're me!"

King Frost dissolved into blue and transformed into a mask, which Joker snatched out of the air and placed upon his face. It dissolved away, merging with the mask that Joker was already wearing.

"Well, that was easy," Joker said, "thanks Oracle! Let's keep moving!"

"Sweet!" Skull cheered. "By the way, I found a giant piece of crusty old bread lying around in my bag from two months ago. I crammed it into the air duct to stall Akechi!"

"Wonderful," Noir said, "that should make it more difficult for him to catch up to us!"

* * *

Akechi entered the passengers lounge from the hall, and was surprised to find himself turning into a mouse. What on earth is happening… He looked around and began to catch his bearings… and he squeaked.

Akechi rushed to the foot of Shido's statue and squeaked a lot more, protesting.

Statue Shido stood there, immobile and indifferent to Akechi's mousiness.

 **SQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAK!**

 _Damn you, Shido,_ Akechi thought, _this is what you think of me?! A rodent? Well… perhaps you think that of the Phantom Thieves too._

He ceased squeaking, and looked around the room for a way out. Spotting a small air duct nearby, he entered it, hoping to find a way out. However, Akechi was met with a blockage - a hard, aging piece of bread which smelled like it had been rotting in someone's bag for several weeks.

How was this here, he wondered? Why? Akechi took a bite, and promptly spat. It was absolutely flavorless, and disgusting. Who would have left this here… of course. They were trying to slow him down, and had left him with no option but to eat through it.

He had arrived early to have an advantage, so he could prevent these kinds of situations from arising. But evidently, he had not arrived early enough. _Damn you, Phantom Thieves,_ Akechi thought, as he began to nibble his way through the abhorrently tasteless bread.

* * *

"All right!" said Oracle, as Joker smacked the elevator button. Ace only just now noticed that on either side of the elevator, there was a logo implemented - a globe, cupped in two hands, with an eye looking down upon it.

"We made it…" Panther gasped, "that was a very tedious passage."

"That picture," Ace noted, pointing to it. "It's rather unnerving."

"What? Oh, that," Joker looked at it. "Haven't you seen it? It's plastered all over things everywhere in this Palace. Shido's ambitions clearly extend beyond this country…"

"Perhaps they already have, in this Palace," mused Queen, "the whole world may in fact be sunken beyond this ship… and Tokyo, the center of the distortion."

"I shiver to think of it…" Fox murmured.

* * *

"Why are we in here?" Noir questioned.

An air vent had been opened and crawled through, and the Phantom Thieves were now standing in a fitting room, as per Skull's insistence, based on his plan. What plan that was, Joker was not sure.

"Wait here!" Skull said, running off to find something. He was grinning wildly. "What's he up to?" Panther wondered.

"Skull," Ace inquired, "what is the meaning of this?"

"You have quite a scary look on your face…" Queen noted.

"A creepy one!" added Oracle nervously. "What's the idea?"

"I got it!" Skull emerged carrying a small bag of something. "Panther, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Ace… put these on! Joker, Mona, Fox, we're gonna wait outside where that noble dude guy is."

Queen nervously took the bag from school, looking rather puzzled. The boys all left the room and waited a safe distance away from the noble.

"Skull," Joker asked, "what's all this about?"

"My thoughts exactly," Mona seconded, "what are you having Lady Ann do?"

"I was wondering that myself," Fox said, "it seems like a rather unusual scheme. I'm intrigued to see the outcome…"

"Trust me," Skull assured him, "this is gonna be great."

The five girls emerged from the fitting room wearing swimsuits. "Hey, it's you girls' time to shine!" Skull shouted, and they walked over, looking either embarrassed or baffled.

Queen was wearing a dark violet swimsuit, while Oracle's was a light purple. Panther sported a red bikini, Noir's was light green with white dots and included a hat. Ace was wearing a smooth black one-piece with blue stripes.

"I didn't think we were really going with such a simple plan…" Queen lamented.

"This seems rather childish," Ace observed, "is it truly necessary for us to approach that man with this attire?"

"Well," Mona pointed out, "there's no way guys hanging by the pool would not want to check out girls in swimsuits."

"I wanna go home…" Oracle cried.

"Are we really going to do this?" Queen asked. She was extremely reluctant, as clearly were the rest of them.

"Come on, Skull's gonna love this," Joker told them, grinning mischievously. Skull looked indignant. "Wha - no! It's for the plan! Just - hurry up okay! He might go off somewhere!"

* * *

Though Skull's preposterous plan ultimately went south, the second letter of introduction was swiftly obtained nonetheless. At that point, the team decided to call it quits for the day and headed back to the dream world.

"That was… an unusual experience," Sae noted. "Do you always do such ridiculous things to achieve your goals?"

"Often, it proves necessary," Akira told her. "After all, in your own Palace we did have to play slots and dice and all kinds of crazy stuff. When you have distorted desires to contend with, you gotta do some distorted things."

"True that," Ryuji agreed. "Man, that noble guy though. What an idiot! Glad we got 'im."

"He was extremely impolite," Yusuke said. "I was more than happy to be rid of him once we had completed our goal."

"I'm just grateful that nothing bad happened," Haru pointed out. "That situation could have escalated into something much worse than it did."

"Me too," Makoto agreed, "I'm glad we're safe."

Getting onto the empty subway, everyone rode back home. "Hey," Ann wondered, "How are the subways running in your dreams if your dream world has nobody here?"

"I don't know," Akira said, "maybe they run by themselves. It might be connected to my thoughts about how Tokyo works. Or something. Akechi would probably have an answer to that… though I wonder if I could trust it."

"Akechi?" Sae wondered, "why would he know anything?"

Akira quickly summarized how Akechi had been entering his dreams in the past. "He would usually have some answers about how it is that something was or wasn't happening in my dreams," Akira explained. "I usually trusted them, cause, although we weren't exactly friends, we weren't enemies… I understood us to just have obligations to defeat each other. But now that he's outright betrayed our seeming friendly competition, I have a lot of reason to be uncertain about everything he's said…"

Akira was thoughtful for a moment.

"I wonder if Akechi ever found his way past that bread…"

* * *

Akechi was in a safe room, hacking and coughing. He had gotten past the bread, but thereafter felt rather ill. Before long he had sensed a need to vomit, and retreated to where he was right at this moment, and prepared to hurl. He puked a piece of bread onto the floor and groaned. "Agggghhh…"

Once he was finished upheaving the ancient food, he exited the safe room and walked downstairs to the pool deck, where he located the former noble who possessed the second letter of introduction. The noble was relaxing on the deck and reading an old-looking book. "Excuse me, sir," Akechi said curtly, "I would like your letter of introduction."

"A letter of introduction, you say? Who are you? Why are so many people interested in that?" the noble wondered, but then shrugged. "Anyway, I cannot give it you, and even if I could, I would not."

"My name is Akechi Goro. I am Shido Masayoshi's son, sir," Akechi said, fuming, "My father is the captain of this ship. He may wish a great misfortune upon you if my request is not met. I demand your letter, if you please."

"Your attire is improper," the noble replied, apparently not having registered Akechi's words. "If you wish to speak to me further, I suggest you discard that inane costume and fetch yourself a swimsuit."

Akechi snarled and pulled out his pistol. The former noble looked up at the barrel nonchalantly. "Escalating to violence, are we?" he noted, before returning to his reading. "Whatever." He then continued to stonewall Akechi.

Akechi considered shooting, but ultimately decided it would do him no good. The Phantom Thieves had very likely already taken the letter. This man was not worth his time. Thoroughly vexed, he holstered his pistol, walked away and then happened upon a tall tattooed man in a purple outfit. It was the face of his killer - the cleaner. "Hey, you!" his killer's cognitive counterpart called out.

"What do you want?" he growled.

"Akechi Goro," the cleaner said, rather bemused by his appearance, "so it truly is you. I hear you causin' trouble round this place. Why are you makin' such a goddamn big mess on Shido's ship?"

"Because I am here to kill him," Akechi answered curtly, and the cleaner let out a huge, utterly derisive laugh.

"Kill? _Masayoshi Shido?_ The captain?!" The cleaner continued laughing. "You're not gonna get very far, punk."

Akechi could not comprehend why the cleaner found this so hilarious. "I presume you will attempt to stop me?"

"To be honest," the cleaner said, quieting down, "I don't give a hoot. But I gotta do my job, y'know? I don't got time to waste on a silly prankster like you though."

"Prankster… ?!" Akechi was seriously offended. How low of an opinion did the cleaner have of him? In reality, probably pretty low, considering the accuracy of Shido's cognitions.

The cleaner whistled and walked away casually as three huge Shadows appeared in front of him. "Take care of that idiot," he said, "I got business elsewhere."

Infuriated by the cleaner's obnoxious waste of his time, Akechi called forth Loki and charged into battle against the minions. When he was finished with defeating them, he dusted off his now very dirty face and decided to leave the Palace. Clearly simply getting ahead of them was not working. It seemed to Akechi that he would have to confront them head on…

* * *

Sae sat in Leblanc yet again, mulling over all the day's events. She had turned into a mouse and worn a swimsuit. It had been a long time since she had ever worn a swimsuit, and obviously, had never become a mouse. These were new and foreign experiences to her. Yet they were also fun. A lot of fun.

It had been a long time since Sae had had this much fun.

She thought about what Makoto had said - we're not the SIU . Makoto was always the positive thinker. Sae had always taken to seeing things how they were… but of course, how they were, was not always how it always is… always was…

"Sis," Makoto said, "are… are you alright?"

* * *

 _ **1998**_

 _ **It is a peaceful day in Tokyo.**_

 _ **Friend 1:** I want to start a ramen shop. Like, a really big ramen shop. Everybody loves ramen!_

 _ **Friend 2:** Not everyone. Just you. Learn to tell the difference…_

 _ **Friend 3:** I don't know. It's too early to decide._

 _ **Friend 4:** I want to be a movie star!_

 _ **Friend 1:** What about you, Sae-chan?_

 _ **Sae thinks on it for a moment.**_

 _ **Sae:** I want to be a police officer… like my dad…_

 _ **Friend 1:** Whoa… like what kind?_

 _ **Friend 3:** A sergeant? Or just some random cop?_

 _ **Friend 2:** Sounds boring._

 _ **Friend 4:** What an exciting idea!_

 _ **Sae:** I don't know… but I want to help people. Like my dad. I want to help… with justice…_

* * *

 _ **Sae's Father:** Sae, good news! You're getting a little sister soon!_

 _ **Sae's face brightens.**_

 _ **Sae:** Really? When's she coming?!_

 _ **Sae's Mother:** Early next year… April._

 _ **Sae:** AHHH I'M SO EXCITED I'M SO EXCITED I'M SO EXCITED!_

* * *

 _ **1999**_

 _ **Sae's Mother:** Sae… say hello to your baby sister… Makoto!_

 _ **Sae looks excitedly at Baby Makoto.**_

 _ **Sae:** Hello, Makoto…_

* * *

 _ **2000**_

 _ **Normal day in the Niijima household. Makoto's first birthday.**_

 _ **Sae is holding a camera. Toddler Makoto is in Sae's Mother's arms, holding a stuffed panda.**_

 _ **Sae:** Smile!_

 _ **Sae's Mother and Toddler Makoto smile their best smiles.**_

 _CLICK!_

* * *

 _ **2003**_

 _ **Sae's Father:** That's such a good picture, Sae!_

 _ **Sae:** Yayyy! I love taking pictures!_

 _ **Little Makoto:** Daddy, can we go to the beach tomorrow?_

 _ **Sae's Father:** Not tomorrow, princess. Maybe next week. I'll try to get some time off from work, okay? I promise._

 _ **Sae:** … Daddy? Is everything okay at work? You've been staying really late…_

 _ **…**_

 _ **…**_

 _ **…**_

 _ **Sae's Father:** Everything's fine. I promise._

 _ **Sae:** I don't want you to…_

 _ **Sae's Father:** Sae… come here and give me a hug._

 _ **Sae's Father:** I promise. I'll be okay. Do you believe me?_

 _ **Sae:** … I believe you, daddy._

 _ **Little Makoto watches curiously.**_

* * *

 _ **2006**_

 _ **Sae overhears a conversation from Makoto's room.**_

 _ **Little Makoto:** Daddy? You won't disappear like Mommy did, right?_

 _ **Sae's Father:** Of course not, princess… I won't abandon you and your sister._

 _ **Little Makoto:** Promise… ?_

 _ **Sae's Father:** *laughs* Okay. Pinky promise._

* * *

 _ **2008**_

 _ **Late night in the Niijima household.**_

 _ **Sae's Father is tired.**_

 _ **Sae:** Father?_

 _ **Sae's Father:** Everything's okay, Sae._

 _ **Sae:** What if it's not? What if you… go away?_

 _ **Sae's Father cracks a weak smile.**_

 _ **Sae's Father:** Take care of your little sister… Do whatever you can to help her… And help anyone else you possibly can. Can you do that for me?_

 _ **Sae hesitates to respond.**_

* * *

 _ **2010**_

 _ **Makoto comes home from school.**_

 _ **The house is empty… Sae is heard crying.**_

 _ **Makoto goes upstairs… Sae is sitting in the office holding a letter to her chest and sobbing.**_

 _ **Sae:** Father…_

 _ **Makoto is confused… she looks scared.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Sis… are you alright?_

 _ **Sae:**_

* * *

"I… I don't know."

Remembering all that had happened, Sae placed her face in her hands… and began to cry…

And Makoto came and hugged her without a word. The same as nearly seven years ago…

* * *

 _ **Original End Note (Published 6/04/2017):**_ Credit to Freinor for the fan art which inspired the last bits. [edit note 6/5, can't link it here, go find it yourself on their twitter/tumblr.] Also, no one on Shido's ship really gives a shit about Shido. So I've decided to have this be pissing Akechi off a bit. It's gonna be quite fun!


	18. Infiltration Day Three

**_Original Opening Note (Published 6/05/2017 - oh, right, today, we caught up to the present):_**

This was almost a really short chapter till I fleshed it out. I would have published it earlier, but I had a few more ideas... I think I may try and combine day four/five into one chapter. Anyway, you all know the drill, if you like something let me know, if you don't, well, let me know. Thanks again for still reading. I cannot thank you all enough for this. Your comments are all great and give me energy to push on! Keep commenting! :)

* * *

Makoto remembered the day she had found out her father was dead… and the weeks and the months that followed in which Sae had slowly turned distorted… Her sister had only barely been eighteen years old.

* * *

 _ **2010**_

 _ **Makoto:** Why… how did Daddy…_

 _ **Sae:** He was… he was…_

 _ **Sae chokes on the words and shows Makoto the letter.**_

 _ **Makoto:** No…_

 _ **Makoto sobs into Sae's arms.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Why… why did they kill him…_

 _ **Sae:** …_

 _ **Sae and Makoto are distraught with disbelief.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Sis… what's going to happen to me now…_

 _ **Sae:** I'll take care of you… I promised him I would help you._

 _ **Makoto:** … R - really? Are you sure?_

 _ **Sae:** … I have to._

 _ **Sae:** Makoto… I promise you… I will never let you go. No matter what it takes._

* * *

 _ **12/24/2016**_

 _ **Days Until Mental Shutdown: 4**_

After their second success, the team was primed and ready to go on their third full day of infiltration. Joker was very proud of them all. As they wandered through the upper starboard hallway, the Phantom Thieves discussed their next course of action.

"We've got three letters to go." Joker told the team enthusiastically. "Let's go get them!"

"Three letters," Ryuji said, "and then we come back from the dead! I'm frickin' pumped!"

 _Three letters. Three more chances to mess with Akechi. Unless he decides to mess with us first…_

"Who are we after now?" Noir asked curiously, "I can't remember our targets."

"We have a TV station president up next," Queen said. "He'll be the next VIP we encounter on our infiltration path."

"That would be the case," Ace said, peering around the corner of the upcoming hallway, "but first it seems we have more squeaky business to contend with."

"We have to be mice _again?!"_ Ann said indignantly. "Sheesh!"

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Ace told them all kindly, "you all did wonderfully yesterday."

* * *

"So, we're almost done with this floor?" Panther said, hopefully.

"It appears so," Joker noted, "the exit is that way. Let's hurry up and get in that elevator!"

"Not so fast there!" shouted a familiar, young, angry voice.

The team turned around apprehensively and, rooting themselves firmly to the ground, stared down their adversary who had spoken just then. "Greetings," Joker said to Akechi, pleasantly. "Have you come to make your best effort at eliminating our opposition of your murder plot?"

"I'm here to kill you all - AGAIN!" Akechi told them furiously. "I did it once before, it shouldn't be too hard the second time around. If you die a second time in the Metaverse, there won't be any Velvet Room to save you - no dream world safety net, Joker. All I need to do is point right here…"

"Velvet Room? What the hell's he talkin' about?!" Skull shouted.

"It's a long long story," Joker replied. He himself wasn't sure how Akechi knew about the Velvet Room. "But we don't have time for this, I'm afraid. Everyone, do what we talked about before. GO!"

Joker leaped above Akechi and dived straight over him, spinning around in midair and doing as much neat air tricks in the process as his agility and the limited space afforded to him by the halls allowed. While Akechi was taken off guard, Skull whacked him from behind with his pipe, and the team all jumped over and past him, running and splitting up in the halls.

Akechi opted to follow Joker, naturally, and, pulling out his pistol began firing several shots at him. Joker agilely avoided each of them, and began to lead Akechi on the chase as planned.

"Joker," called Skull in his ear, "I've made it to the switch. Give the signal when you're ready!"

"Roger that," Joker whispered back, dodging further fire from Akechi. "Is everyone else okay?!"

Everyone else confirmed their positions.

"You all blindfolded them?"

"We did," Queen confirmed. "They're all blindfolded - except the designated one."

"Okay." Joker looked ahead into the chosen room, and dashed inside, turning around to look at Akechi. It was all positioned properly… Joker standing in the hallway, and Akechi standing inside the room, just beyond the doorway Joker had come through - with the Shido statue standing between them. Now was their chance… but it would only last for a split second.

"All right - do it NOW!"

A loud switch noise was heard, and the Shido statue in the room suddenly emitted a faint light. Akechi transformed into a mouse, and the doors both behind him and in front of him were closed off. Joker's enemy squeaked in protest as the leader of the Phantom Thieves scowled triumphantly. With his mission complete, he ran back to the exit.

"Great teamwork, everyone!" Joker cheered, high-fiving all his teammates when they rendezvoused at the elevator to the next deck. Akechi had been trapped, stuck as a mouse, inside one of the many rooms in the ship's hallways.

Joker recalled the brilliant plotting of this brilliant plot…

* * *

 _"Akechi's chasin' us, ain't he?" Skull asked._

 _"Yes." Queen agreed, "Given our successes so far, there's no question he'll eventually confront us directly."_

 _"No worries," Ace told them, "I have an idea that may prove useful."_

 _"An idea?" Joker was intrigued. "Do tell."_

 _Ace showed them a map of the upper starboard hallway. "There's a reasonably good chance that he'll try tomorrow, in this set of hallways. Therefore, I propose we lay a trap for him."_

 _" Sis," Queen said, "this is supposed to be my job!"_

 _Ace smiled at her baby sister. "Queen - isn't it fun to try something new once in awhile?"_

* * *

After some careful scouting, the team had discovered that when the vision of the Shido statues was obstructed, the mouse spell did not take effect. Thus, as they wandered the halls, they blindfolded them all, but for one in a room that had no way out but two doors, which would automatically close when the button was pushed to turn it back on.

With the Shido statues blindfolded, unable to see them as mice, making it back to the exit was quick work for them.

"But won't Akechi be stuck there forever?" Panther wondered.

"Nah," Joker assured her, shrugging, "he'll find a way out eventually. Either that, or someone will open the door and let him out. This is a ship, with passengers after all… eventually, someone's gonna want to leave these rooms. So don't worry, Akechi won't starve to death."

"I… I was surprised that worked," Oracle said.

"Let's continue onwards, shall we?" Noir proposed.

"Yeah," Skull panted, tired out from running. "That took a lot of wind outta me… let's go to a safe room."

* * *

"Yo, hold up!" a man's voice called out. The Phantom Thieves turned around. "Yeah, I'm talkin' to you! Where d'ya think you're goin'?!"

"Who the hell're you?" Skull yelled.

"None of your beeswax," said the man, who wore a purple shirt and several unusual tattoos. "I hear you punks've been making quite a mess around here. What's the big idea? Are you workin' with that Akechi kid?"

"Akechi? No," Joker said, "he and I have very different philosophies, let me tell you."

"Don't talk to me about philosophy," the man said roughly, "I ain't interested in that crap. Whatever, it doesn't matter anyhow. I'll just leave these punks to you guys."

Several Shadows appeared. "What the -" Joker was incredulous. "Ah, come on!"

"What a rude man!" Noir noted, as she called for Asarte and promptly attacked the Shadows. They were easily defeated within moments. "Who was that person?"

"I've seen him before…" Joker wondered, "he… he's the cleaner! He's gotta be!"

"The cleaner?! That unruly man?" Fox couldn't quite believe it.

"He's the one who killed Akechi," Joker explained. "I'm certain of it now. They call him the cleaner because he cleans up trouble."

"I see…"

* * *

Akechi was extremely agitated. He had allowed the Phantom Thieves to outfox him yet again. And now, he was a mouse, trapped in this tiny room with a statue of Shido… it seemed to be laughing at him…

"DAMN YOU!" Akechi squeaked angrily.

Nothing happened. The Shido statue simply stood there as always.

Suddenly, the door opened up, and Akechi seized his opportunity… He rushed through, past the Shadow that had opened the door, which looked around curiously as Akechi, now human again, dashed around a corner and hid.

* * *

"I am Okumura Haru," Noir began, "the heiress to and daughter of the president of Okumura Foods. I believe we've sponsored you as well."

"Oh," the TV Station President said, rather amused by her request, "you're her? but didn't you kill yourself? Aren't you a Phantom Thief?"

"That…" Noir was a little shocked. She had not expected this.

"This doesn't look good," whispered Ace, "should we intervene?"

"No, don't start anything yet," Joker warned cautiously. "So far Noir seems to be keeping her cool. Let's let her to talk her way through this first."

"That hardly matters," Noir continued, "I am not here to talk about silly rumors, but to discuss business. And as for the Phantom Thief nonsense, that is utterly baseless slander."

"I see…" the TV Station President straightened his tie. "It's true that I am quite indebted to President Okumura. He funded us extremely well, after all…"

Noir and the President continued discussing matters for a few moments longer - relating to her father, and his death - and she was clearly very nervous, but continued pressing her initial request and eventually obtained the letter. "Thank you…" she said, trying her best to sound grateful, "very much."

"All right, we did it!" Skull whispered. "Let's get out of here!"

"Hang on," Panther cautioned him, "don't so so hasty. He's not done talking, and Noir can't just up and leave him…"

"But my," the President said sardonically, "your father truly was a fool."

Noir was startled by this comment, and froze. "Uh - I'm sorry?"

"He could've lived a life of luxury if only he did what he was told… and you know, I'm the one who broadcast the moment of his mental shutdown! And your suicide… my, was that quite the story! Our rating increased tenfold! The Okumura family scandals are gifts that keep on giving…" The TV Station President laughed. And laughed and laughed and laughed…

"This is bad!" Queen whispered, "she needs to pull out of this now!"

"No," Skull told her, "it's too late for that… he insulted her family." He cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "This guy's got it comin'..."

Skull seemed to be correct, as Noir soon began to retaliate…

"Stop it."

"Hmm?"

"How," Noir said slowly, deliberately, the anger in her voice slowly rising, "could you talk about my father's death like that…"

"Oh? That's just business. If you like, we could get you in a documentary… 'Family company recovering from deaths of both father and daughter…' splendid thought. You're so cute you just might get good ratings."

 _ **ding.**_

Noir had reached her boiling point.

She spoke again, her voice exploding with fury this time:

"I WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT! YOU HAD BETTER APOLOGIZE!"

"Time to save her!" Mona said, and the team rushed forth into battle.

"Are you… THIEVES?! I'm such a fool… the 'baseless slander' was true! You will regret deceiving me!"

* * *

They didn't regret deceiving him.

"Noir, are you alright?" Joker wondered, concerned.

"Not quite…"

They had just defeated the TV station President, who had spent quite a bit of time gloating about broadcasting not just the death of Haru's father… but also Haru's "suicide…" Haru couldn't imagine…

"We should probably go back for today," Panther said. To that, no one had any objections.

* * *

"Excuse me!" yelled Akechi, pointed his pistol at the TV Station President. "If the Phantom Thieves stole your letter, we have a problem."

"Who are you?" the Station President said, puzzled, before recognizing - "oh, that voice - Akechi Goro! Where are all these dead people coming from, I wonder?"

"Your letter of introduction! Hand it over at once if it is on your person!"

"I cannot help you. However, I must say this would make for a truly sensational broadcast - 'Ace Detective harasses head of media - '"

"You are a simple cognition!" Akechi growled, "You are in no place to make such claims!"

"Oh, you think so?" the President was now very angered. "Go at once or I shall call for security!"

Concluding his efforts here useless, Akechi simply shot out the slot machine on which the man had been gambling and left. The President yelled at him for vandalizing the machine, but Akechi ignored him.

 _I'll need to beat them to the next one…_

* * *

 _ **Niijima household, evening**_

 _ **Makoto is sitting in the living room, reading.**_

 _ **Sae is talking to someone in the other room, exchanging words intensely… She sounds like she's about to cry…**_

 _ **Something about "case" and "custody."**_

 _ **The conversation escalates and Sae and the other party raise their voices at one another.**_

 _ **Makoto looks nervous…**_

 _ **Someone is heard saying goodbye and collecting their belongings. Footsteps echo throughout the home. A door opens and shuts.**_

 _ **Sae enters the living room. She looks tired, distraught, confused.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Sis… who was that?_

 _ **Sae:** Someone… trying to help us. A lawyer._

 _ **Makoto:** …_

 _ **Makoto:** Are we going to be okay?_

 _ **Sae:** We… we are. I promise. But it's going to take time. Don't worry, Makoto… I'll keep you safe._

 _ **Makoto:** Thank you, Sis… can we play together? A game or something? Or go out for sushi?_

 _ **Sae looks uncomfortable at this request.**_

 _ **She seems to be unsure of the right words…**_

 _ **Sae:** I - I'm busy… I'm sorry…_

 _ **Makoto: You've been busy all week! For the past two weeks, even! I don't even know when the last time we were together was! Please, Sis…**_

 _ **Sae: Goodnight, Makoto.**_

* * *

"Hey," Futaba said, on her laptop as the rest of the team was all chilling and watching one of the fifteen or twenty DVDs Ryuji had got from the dream store in Shibuya. "Guys, check this out."

Akira paused the movie and everyone gave Futaba their attention. She showed them the homepage of a website for some TV station, which prominently featured an unflattering edit of the Phantom Thieves logo.

"'Tune in at 10 PM, 10/27 for a Special Report on the Phantom Thieves…'" Akira read, "'a documentary about the criminal acts of the Phantom Thieves… Their unknown methods and chaos… Scandal and Suicide…' Blah blah blah… what?!"

"How did you get internet here?!" Ann questioned.

"Never mind that!" Ryuji yelled, "what the hell is this?! It's bullshit!"

"This is ridiculous," Makoto said, "they're going to air such nonsense? These lies?"

"'Endorsed by Shido Masayoshi…'" Morgana read. "This is humiliating…"

"They're capitalizing on our supposed deaths…" Yusuke noted, "simply for higher ratings…"

"It's like that TV station president was talking about," Haru said, shocked. "But, Futaba-chan - why bring this to us? What are we supposed to do about it?"

Futaba grinned. "Oh… _hehehehehe…_ this is gonna be FUN!"

"Fun?" Sae wondered, "Futaba - what on earth are you planning to do?"

Everyone gathered around and listened to Futaba's wonderful scheme…

* * *

 _MISSING_  
 _Kurusu Akira_

 _Scrawny sixteen year-old boy, black hair, cosmetic glasses. Student of Shujin Academy. Disappeared on 11/20, friends are extremely worried._

 _Please call_  
 _MISHIMA YUUKI 555-9435_

Above this text, was a picture of Kurusu Akira, with a blank expression upon his face. Mishima had been putting up these posters everywhere… Shibuya, Kando, Shinjuku, Akihabara, and was now focusing on Yongen-Jaya.

The news had said Akira was dead (though they only named him as a leader of the Phantom Thieves)… but no one who knew him had believed it. Least of all Mishima. Akira had told them all not to believe it.

So, Mishima had gotten in contact with all Akira's confidants and formed the Secret Phantom Thieves Death Denial Society - the best name they could come up with - and launched a search for Akira and the other Phantom Thieves.

Everyday Mishima wandered Tokyo, maintaining the presence of these posters, but no one had responded, and the SPTDDS was beginning to lose hope…

Mishima's smartphone beeped, and he opened up the SPTDDS group chat.

 **Kawakami:** Have you had any luck?  
 **Mishima:** Zero. I'm worried…  
 **Hifumi:** We're all worried, Mishima…  
 **Iwai:** … I know we're all upset about him being gone, but is this really worth it anymore? My connections still haven't got us any clues.  
 **Shinya:** It's gotta be! He's gotta be out there! I believe in Akira!  
 **Chihaya:** I don't know. These cards don't look good…  
 **Takemi:** And I hear they're doing some sort of nonsense cash-in TV special about the Phantom Thieves. Not good for our morale.  
 **Ohya:** THE CARDS ARE NOT ALWAYS RELIABLE! :P :( # 3 ! &$^^ !  
 **Yoshida:** Why is your messaging so erratic, Ohya-san?  
 **Takemi:** Probably intoxicated again. She goes to that bar way too much. I examined her last week - I don't imagine she'll make it past fifty at this rate.  
 **Ohya:** I DON'T CARE :) :) :D :) :0 :J  
 **Hifumi:** This isn't helping, everyone. We need to think about this reasonably.  
 **Kawakami:** Right…  
 **Mishima:** Let's gather and meet to discuss our next course of action at Leblanc tomorrow.

Mishima put away his phone.

Leblanc's owner and Akira's guardian, Sakura Sojiro, had long been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting a criminal, and the place was abandoned. But Mishima had found a key under the doormat, and it had become the meeting place for the SPTDDS.

* * *

 _ **Sae is yelling at the judge.**_

 _ **The Niijima sisters' lawyer says something, and she quiets down…**_

 _ **They leave the courtroom.**_

 _ **Makoto follows them, looking confused and scared…**_

* * *

"Akira," Makoto said, "I need to talk to you…"

Akira rolled over in her arms. "Makoto… are you alright?"

"I've been thinking about… Sis… about all that's happened since… since she changed… She's been thinking about it too. There's a lot that she really regrets…"

Tears started to come to Makoto's eyes. "It's… so confusing…"

"You can tell me about it."

* * *

 _ **Months later.**_

 _ **Sae and Makoto exit the courthouse. Sae looks rather stoic, but Makoto has not noticed and appears overjoyed…**_

 _ **Makoto:** Sis! What now? Now that you can keep me, what are we going to do? Anything fun?_

 _ **Sae:** …_

 _ **Makoto:** Sushi? Karaoke? The beach? Do you want to take a picture of us? You love taking pictures! Come on, let's take a picture!_

 _ **Makoto dances around jovially, while Sae barely registers her and stares off into the distance.**_

 _ **Her eyes are clouded with something… some sort of intense pride… A very personal pride. She does not see her little sister.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Sis, come on! Stop giving me the silent treatment! Where do you want to go to… uh…_

 _ **Sae looks down and makes eye contact with Makoto. Makoto's movements halt, and her face falls. She stops nervously.**_

 _ **Makoto:** … cele… brate … ?_

 _ **Makoto does not recognize what she sees…**_

 _ **She is very confused…**_

 _ **Makoto:** … Sis?_

 _ **Sae:** …_

 _ **Sae:** I won._

 _ **Makoto does not comprehend.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Sis…_

* * *

"I…" Makoto continued slowly, as Akira listened carefully with the utmost attention he could give…

"I was her first case… She was so far gone… She didn't see me anymore…"

Akira held her as close and as tightly as he could.

"It's okay," he assured her gently, "she's back now. She's herself again."

"I… I hope so."

* * *

 ** _Original End Note (today again):_** So, I realized what I was missing - the real world. I needed to balance the adventuring with some Tokyo mystery and dialogue... like the actual game does... so I decided to cut back to the confidants. I may write an entire chapter focusing on them. I also don't know how Japan law works regarding this, but I imagined it would probably have been a challenge for Sae to take custody of her sister. So there's that too. Character development! If there's anything you want to see me cover later, let me know.

This chapter came out a lot later in the day than usual. I've got a lot going on, so I may start updating less frequently. At the very least, I'm sure the schedule will grow less consistent, even if I'm ultimately able to continue the daily updates. I've generally gotten chapters out between 6 and 10 AM Eastern Standard Time (which is my home timezone) and today it's like 5 PM. So tomorrow's chapter might not be out until, who knows, 10 PM maybe. Or the following morning. We'll see.

Some of you have been talking a bit about what will happen with Akechi's sacrifice. I do have a loose plan for that. You'll see it when it comes up. I promise, I'm not just abandoning that scene altogether, or making it so it doesn't happen or whatever - but it will be different. But also true. I hope you all like how I handle it!

 _ **New End Note (later today, read: NOW):**_ Well, I finished copy-pastying this entire thing so yeah. Thanks for reading. I don't know when I'll get back to this, but I hope you enjoyed it.


	19. Infiltration Day Four Part One

_**Opening Note:**_ So, this is the first chapter to go live on AO3 and FF simultaneously. Yay for that. Also, last time I made a typo regarding the dates - it's been fixed now, don't worry. But I thought it was supposed to be Christmas Eve at first until I realized, no, Christmas Eve was yesterday's chapter. It's Christmas in the beginning of June! Yay!

* * *

Leblanc was dusty, deserted - and almost empty. The police had taken nearly everything owned by Akira and Sojiro as evidence. No coffee, no curry, no anything - everything not nailed down was gone. It quite disturbed Mishima every time he saw it, though less so than the first time he had seen it. Some of the SPTDDS had repopulated the shop's shelves with their own belongings, but it felt a little… wrong, somehow. Like they were intruding.

Takemi knocked on the door, which was locked tight. Mishima opened it and let her in, before promptly locking it again.

"Why do you still lock the door, Mishima-kun?"

"I'm pretty scared still, Takemi-senpai," Mishima explained, "We don't know who it was that wanted the Phantom Thieves dead. They could be watching us. What if they just walked in here while we were in the attic, hid downstairs, and heard everything? Or worse, planted some sort of trap or a bomb."

"True, true," Takemi agreed, "but you could wait until we all got here first. And furthermore, if they wanted to put a bomb here, they could just toss one through the window. It seems you're a little overstressed about this."

"Maybe…"

"Perhaps you need some tea," Takemi proposed.

"Tea with… ?"

"One of my special remedies."

"I'd rather not drink anything you cooked up."

"Oh, come on. That hurts my feelings." Takemi reached into her purse, which was small and black and had a white first-aid symbol on it. After a moment of searching, she pulled out a small chewable pill of some sort. "At least take this."

"What is it?"

"Something to calm your nerves."

"Will it… make me feel weird?"

"Just take it."

Mishima took the pill reluctantly and shoved it into his mouth. It tasted bizarre, like an odd combination of vegetable juice and aspirin. "What…"

He felt his head hit the floor.

* * *

"Hm, well, that was interesting."

"Takemi-san, Mishima-kun seems pretty beat. Are you sure the kid's okay?"

"He'll be fine, Iwai-san. He's been through worse."

"Seems like a rather dirty move to make…"

"Perhaps, Hifumi-chan, but - ah, he's coming to. Stand back. He may react aggressively to the situation."

Mishima felt really really groggy and thoroughly agitated. Wiping his eyes free of sweat, he stood up and saw - everyone, watching him with strange curiosity.

"Ah," Takemi noted, "you're awake. How do you feel?"

"That was supposed to calm my nerves… ?"

"It was supposed to. I'm not sure it worked. It was not supposed to knock you out… that fast."

"What was that made of…"

"Never mind that. I've got all I need to know for now…"

"We should begin our meeting," Hifumi said. "I can't stay too long or my mother will come looking for me."

* * *

"So we didn't find him…" Shinya looked a little down, as did all the others. "Will we ever find Akira, Mishima-senpai?"

"And what about the other Phantom Thieves?" Kawakami wondered. "Niijima-san was expelled from school… and her sister - that prosecutor lady - wasn't one of them, she died too."

"This situation is not looking hopeful," Yoshida said regretfully.

"I'm findin' it tough to believe," Iwai added, "that this is some kinda big plot they cooked up. Dyin' and then… what? Comin' back? Do these kids have the stuff to pull off that thing?"

"They had the resources to change hearts," pointed out Ohya, "surely they could've faked their deaths, had they put their minds to it. I think it could have happened..."

"How?" Chihaya wondered, "Ohya-san, how do you believe they could they have done such a thing?"

"I… I don't know, you're the fortune teller! Can't you see it for yourself?!"

"I can indeed, and the cards are telling me they didn't!"

Ohya and Chihaya bickered for a few minutes before Hifumi broke them up. "You two, please stop. Arguing will not serve to helpfully advance this meeting any further."

"But…" Ohya whined, childishly.

"But nothing," Hifumi said firmly, "Chihaya-senpai, relax. Not everyone respects your art - not that everyone should - and it is not infallible. Ohya-senpai, please control your temper and do not allow your rampant alcoholism to spoil this discussion."

Surprised at being told off by Akira's shogi master, both of them shut up.

"I would suggest a medicinal solution of some sort… but this seems too natural for all of us to feel this way," Takemi sighed. "This is trying on all of us… maybe there truly is no hope."

"Come on," Mishima said, trying his best to sound encouraging, "we have to hold onto hope. Hope is the only thing we have… right?"

Everyone looked at Mishima.

"Don't you all remember why this started?"

* * *

 _ **12/15/2016**_

The comments on the Phan-site were not positive whatsoever.

No matter what Mishima posted, no matter what he did or said, it was ignored. Hardly anyone commented, and when they did, there was a constant endless swamp of either negativity or neutrality.

 _those suckers got what they deserved  
_ _they're DED dude  
_ _why the fuck does this still exist?  
_ _-DELETED BY ADMIN-  
_ _i bet they kild ech othr  
_ _lol who were these guys? whatev_

But Mishima remained determined. He maintained his position. Because Akira had told him to… _keep telling the world._ No matter what.

* * *

Kawakami missed teaching her best student. Her favorite student. The one who always listened, even if he was slacking off in class… he always got great grades. That boy… it was as if he already possessed maximum knowledge or something.

Kurusu Akira had been remarkable… Incredibly remarkable. Too remarkable to be dead. Was he really? Had he truly failed the exam he'd spoken of?

She hoped so. She didn't want to fail him out of the class. And she wanted to give her student more massages.

* * *

Shinya didn't find playing Gun About as much fun as he used to. Without Akira to play with him. It was just playing by himself now… the way it had used to be before Akira showed up.

So Shinya didn't play Gun About so much anymore. He helped other kids at his school with their homework, shared his lunch with them, and generally did what he could. He helped people, like the Phantom Thieves would want him to do.

 _The Phantom Thieves are gonna win!_

Had they, Shinya wondered. They were all supposed to be dead. Was it all part of the plan? Or was it game over for the Phantom Thieves… ?

* * *

Takemi had lots of patients now, thanks to Akira. They were all depending on her. She had made an exceptional amount of progress on her experimental medicines. But she missed her favorite patient. Her guinea pig.

Akira had told Takemi, _I won't be terribly sick,_ but… it seemed like he was. She was worried. Had her prescription not been enough? Perhaps she could have done more to help him…

It was too late for guilt. She went back to her work.

* * *

Iwai quietly dusted off his models. Today had been a slow business day. _How cool would it be,_ he wondered, _if I put a sign in the window saying I was the weapons supplier for the Phantom Thieves? Might bring in a few more customers. If only they were still alive._

Were they still alive? Akira had said they were going to get out of trouble. That he could bet the store on it…

 _We're gonna kick ass._

Perhaps Akira was simply a foolish, overambitious kid, who'd gotten himself in a bit more trouble than he could handle. But Iwai wasn't quite sure. If only…

* * *

Yoshida was preparing to give a speech to the crowd at Shibuya Station. It was larger than usual, but only so much larger. He had Akira's help to appreciate for that. That odd, idealistic boy had awakened him to what was most important - the future. His future as a politician, moving forward into that and away from his past.

To that end, Yoshida knew that it was probably the best idea to move on from Akira and focus on getting elected. But he couldn't. He couldn't stop thinking about what Akira had said about making a speech, before the deaths of the Phantom Thieves were announced on the news…

 _You're going to hear a lot of stuff about it._ Certainly, Yoshida had heard a lot. But he wasn't sure what to believe - an unusual position to find himself in, as a man who was supposed to be certain what his beliefs were.

He hoped Akira was fine, and that the death news was simply a ruse…

* * *

Chihaya sat at her stand in Shinjuku, turning over her cards once more for a prediction of Akira's fate. But she still didn't like what she saw… it confused her. "Death… Temperance… World?"

Chihaya had never seen the World Arcana before. She had no idea what it meant, or why it was showing up in her tarot reading. She shook her head dismissively - she must have made some sort of error. So Chihaya put away her cards and simply awaited her next client.

 _My future is secure_ , Akira had told her. But Chihaya wasn't so sure. Right now, it seemed anything but…

* * *

Ohya had been waiting for ages for her chance to write that story Akira had mentioned. _It's gonna be one hell of a scoop._ Lala told her it was foolish, but, she still held out some hope.

Yet, the "real news," - the news which, she now knew, was under Shido Masayoshi's thumb - told her otherwise. It didn't help Ohya's drinking. She was drinking more and more now, and writing less and less…

At this rate, she wouldn't have a job anymore…

* * *

Hifumi was still waiting, very eagerly and impatiently, on that rematch. A rematch with someone who was supposed to be dead. But she felt a strong conviction that he would be back…

 _You'll hear that I lost the game. Don't believe it for a second._

That boy was a very strange boy indeed. Hifumi quite liked Akira. In fact, Hifumi sensed that everyone liked Akira… He was the most charming boy she had ever met. It was quite a shame that he was already taken.

By a girl who was also dead… and also one of the Phantom Thieves, as Hifumi was well aware. So she was probably alive too.

In the meantime, she played against herself - as she had used to before becoming Akira's shogi master. A title she had initially been made uncomfortable by, but now quite took to. Hifumi hoped she would have the opportunity to teach him again…

* * *

 _Don't freak out when you see the news,_ Akira had said, but Sojiro couldn't have helped himself.

When he was arrested, it was evident the situation was even worse than he thought… Now, Akira and all his friends were dead. Supposedly. How was Sojiro supposed to _not_ freak out?

That, and his store had been taken from him, and closed. All told, Sojiro was a little upset at Akira… but he had had plenty of time to think it over. Perhaps Akira had the right idea. There were plenty of evil people in power, and no clear way to oppose them. Perhaps it was the only idea.

He didn't know. He didn't care. All he knew was that, with what little hope he had left, he hoped Akira was still out there somewhere…

* * *

"Kawakami-sensei?"

"Yes, Mishima-kun?"

"Do you know any of Akira's friends?"

* * *

"And that was how we started this, right?" Mishima reminded them, "because we were all hopeful that he would come back. Don't you all have any hope left?"

The confidants all looked quite depressed at the memory of it.

"We have no leads," Hifumi mused regretfully. "It seems this will not help our strategy… I think I'll go home."

All making various excuses, the SPTDDS members all got up and left.

Mishima was now alone in the attic again. "Akira… where are you…"

* * *

 _ **2012**_

 _ **Niijima apartment. Dinner.**_

 _ **Although the two sisters are across the table from each other, they feel miles apart…**_

 _ **Sae is twenty, a successful prosecutor - though not successful enough - and now wears a black business suit.**_

 _ **Makoto:**_ _Sis._

 _ **No response.**_

 _ **Sae's food sits ignored, growing cold. She is busy typing on her laptop with one hand, while the other scribbles away at some papers.**_

 _ **Makoto:**_ _Sis…_

 _ **Sae:**_ _I'm busy…_

 _ **Makoto:**_ _Sis… aren't you going to eat?_

 _ **Sae:**_ _I need to win this case…_

 _ **Makoto:**_ _But…_

 _ **Sae:**_ _I'm doing this for us._

 _ **Makoto:**_ _But the evidence seems… questionable. It can't be the whole story… What if they're innocent?_

 _ **Sae:**_ _They're not. They can't be._

 _ **Makoto:**_ _But, Sis -_

 _ **Sae:**_ _I have to prove them guilty. I have to get this promotion. It's for your own good… oh, why am I trying? You wouldn't get it._

 _ **Makoto:**_ _But what about your promise? Sis, you could be ruining someone's life right now. Is that right? What would Dad say?_

 _ **Sae:**_ …

 _ **Sae:**_ _Please leave me alone._

 _ **Makoto:**_ _But -_

 _ **Sae:**_ _No more buts. Please leave me alone. And…_

 _ **Sae pauses, looking angry and slightly distraught.**_

 _ **Sae:**_ _Don't mention Father again._

* * *

Sae had heard her name from below, and was now at the edge of the stairs to the attic in Leblanc, watching Makoto cry as Akira held her close. The two of them sleeping together was a strange sight, and Sae felt like she was intruding and ought to return downstairs. But, she had been quite curious what Makoto had to say about her, so she had stayed - and listened.

 _She's back now. She's herself again._

Sae wanted to believe Akira was right… but perhaps - she wasn't quite herself. Not herself from seven years ago. She had let go of her jealousy, the jealousy that had given rise to her distorted heart, and the consequent Palace. But Sae had not let go of her anger. Her anger against the men who had ignored and devalued her. Who had placed themselves above her.

Sae could feel her older self - from 1998 - gently calling out to her. Little Sae. That happy, hopeful, idealistic girl who loved her baby sister and taking pictures. Her memories overtook her, as she recalled once again… what Sae-chan had said to her friends. _I want to help people. Like my dad._ That person was still inside her… buried deep within her soul.

 _If only I could remember…_

Lost in thought, Sae retreated back downstairs, to where everyone else was at present watching the movies Ryuji had found.

* * *

The cleaner was extremely pissed off. The guards he had pitted the two opposing punk parties against were now totally fucking wasted, and not only that, but there was a broken slot machine in the entertainment hall.

What the hell was going on?!

"This kid wanted your letter of introduction?"

"Yes," the TV Station President said, "but the Phantom Thieves had already taken it!"

"Phantom Thieves… those guys. Huh…" The cleaner scratched his chin curiously. "If these folks are after introduction letters, seems like they might come talk to me at some point… ah well. Doesn't matter." He sighed. "Those kids actually seem something alright. That Akechi kid though, he pisses me off…

"Anyway," he said to the TV President, "I gotta get back to business. Lemme know if you hear about any more trouble round here."

* * *

 _ **12/25/2016**_

 _ **Days Until Mental Shutdown: 3**_

"Today's Christmas, isn't it?" Yusuke noted, as the team sat in the dream Leblanc, early dream morning, refreshing themselves in preparation for the day's infiltration.

"Yeah," Ann said, "I wonder why they're airing that special about us on the 27th, and not today, when people aren't working?"

"There's already a Christmas special planned," Futaba said, as she tapped away at the keyboard of her laptop furiously. "That happens every year. They wouldn't let it override that."

"A Christmas special, huh?" Ryuji wondered. "I used to love Christmas specials, but they always turn to shit… hey, Futaba, what're you doing anyway?"

"Hacking into the TV station mainframe."

"Oh?" Sae wondered curiously, "How are you doing that?"

"Never mind how she's doing it," Ryuji said dismissively. "How'd she bring the laptop to the dream world?"

"Well," Akira told him, "it's probably cause she died with it on her."

"That doesn't really explain though," Makoto said. "How does it work? For that matter, how does all of this work here in the dream world?"

"Yes, my thoughts exactly," Haru agreed, "I still don't understand it, even after having been here so long."

Akira shrugged. "Because we dreamed it, I guess."

"I don't fully understand it myself," Morgana said, "but it seems to me we have had some sort of divine assistance."

"Divine assistance…" Yusuke mused, "as if from God? That is a strange thought to entertain. Why would a God bother to waste their time helping us?"

"Gods do whatever they feel like in myths," Makoto pointed out. "I can only suppose this particular god felt like offering their assistance to us by bringing us to Akira's dream world."

Akira wished he could explain to them about the Velvet Room and Igor, but it would take much too much time, and they hadn't followed the last time he'd tried to tell them.

"So, Futaba," he said, deciding to change the subject, "you're hacking into the TV station?"

"Yes," Futaba said, "for our plan. I know I didn't tell you much, but I'll explain it all when I figure out where they keep the tapes…"

"I think that should be accomplished later," Sae advised. "For now, I believe we've had enough relaxing. We ought to head out to the Palace. Is everyone ready to go?"

* * *

Ace laughed. It was the first time in a long time Queen had her laugh, and the first time any of the other Phantom Thieves had heard her laugh. It was an energetic, excited laugh, almost like a song. "Sis," Queen asked, "are you alright? Your mood seems… to be…"

"I thought it was funny," Ace replied, smiling brilliantly, "that Fox was considering painting us as mice."

"How is that funny…" Fox shook his head in great disappointment. "My art is not meant to be amusing."

"Well, to some people it's just that," Joker told him, "you can't really tell them how to judge it. That's on them. And you, I guess, to communicate the right message as best you can."

"I see… so perhaps simply mentioning us as mice is the wrong message," Fox mused. "I thought it would be an interesting way to depict helplessness in the face of something bigger, yet hopefulness that it can be conquered… how might I achieve that?"

"I would be very interested to see this painting," Noir contributed.

"I don't know, dude," Skull said, laughing, "but like, we gotta keep goin' on for now."

"Yeah," Mona said, "Fox, you can show off your art skills later."

The team rushed back into the hallways of the ship's lower port quarters and rushed on to the exit.

* * *

"Hey, hold it right there, punks!" shouted the cleaner.

"Wha - you again?!" Joker was annoyed. "Dude, what'd we do this time?"

"Well, ya beat the crap outta my men," the cleaner said, "and I can't let that pass. I'm gonna have to avenge them."

"But you attacked us first!" Panther complained.

"Come on!" Panther complained, "just let us go already!"

"Well… I guess I could let you off the hook," the cleaner said, as several guard shadows appeared in front of him, "but you're gonna have to beat these guys first!"

With that, the cleaner walked away. The Phantom Thieves defeated his mooks and all panted tiredly. "What the hell?!" Skull yelled, "why's that guy so obsessed with us?"

"Well," Mona pointed out, "he's got himself the job of keeping this ship free of trouble, and there are not one but two opposing parties - us and Akechi - surely causing no end of problems for him…"

"I quite sympathize with his plight, personally." Ace opined.

"That is true," Noir agreed.

"Well, it doesn't matter much," Queen said tiredly, "it doesn't seem he's having much if any impact on our actions. Let's proceed onwards, shall we?"

* * *

"Whew, that took awhile," Skull noted, after the team had backtracked for intel on the IT president.

"Yes," Queen said. "By the way, I wonder… where's Akechi? We haven't run into him for a little bit."

"Perhaps he has given up," Fox suggested.

"I highly doubt that," Joker told him, "Akechi's one persistent bastard. He wouldn't just up and disappear, especially not after we tricked him three times."

"Kinda like how it went when Noir and I tricked you guys way back when," Mona noted.

"... No, not like that at all," Noir said awkwardly.

"I suppose it doesn't matter," Ace said, "as long as he's not in the way. Let's go to this man's room and get his letter."

* * *

"Is that your laptop?!"

"It seems she's impressed him," Ace noted hopefully.

"Yeah," Morgana said, "this may just work out."

It didn't.

"So this is still what happens in the end…" Noir sighed.

But after the Phantom Thieves defeated the IT president, they were met with quite a terrible surprise. "I - I don't have it!"

"What?!" Joker was stunned. "You… don't have it?"

"The letter! No, I don't have it!"

"What did you do with it?" Panther yelled.

"I… I gave it to Akechi-kun!"

* * *

Akechi was extremely pleased with himself. While the Phantom Thieves foolishly went around in circles seeking information from the restaurant, he had been hiding and watching, finding their search truly hilarious. He had already gained the intel they needed by eavesdropping on some guards.

" _Akechi-kun… how did you get in here?"_

" _I walked in through the window. I apologize for the intrusion, but I need your letter of introduction…"_

" _What?"_

" _After all… I helped you create the false Medjed. This is the least you could do to repay me."_

" _Oh… of course!"_

Akechi would now have to get to the cleaner, and fight the other Phantom Thieves for the letters they had obtained… and then, at long last, he would have his revenge upon Shido.

Akechi beat open the air duct and entered the engine room.

* * *

 _ **End Note:**_ Akechi finally gets a chance! I'll be taking a little bit of time till the next chapter - this is a pretty important one. Anyhoo, as always, give me your feedback, questions about whatever and/or stuff!


	20. Infiltration Conclusion

**_FF specific formatting note:_** For some reason... the FF editor won't allow for triple exclamation points/question marks. So the amount of punctuation is different here from the AO3 version. I have no clue why. Spam filter? That doesn't make any sense to me, but whatever.

* * *

Akechi emerged from the air duct into the dusty engine room, and leaped down to meet the cleaner, his pistol drawn. "You again?" the cleaner exclaimed, extremely annoyed by Akechi's sudden appearance. "What the hell d'you want?!"

"You," Akechi said forcefully, leveling the barrel of his pistol at the cleaner, "will give me your letter of introduction."

"I don't like your attitude," the cleaner responded bluntly, "you could do with a 'please.' Also, I don't like guns very much."

Akechi growled and lowered his firearm. Still furious, he snarled, even more forcefully - "You will _please_ give me your letter of introduction."

"Gee whiz, you really can't take a hint," the cleaner huffed, "or follow basic instructions from your elders. I ain't givin' you shit."

"I will kill you and rob it from your corpse."

"I'm not killable," the cleaner responded nonchalantly, "trust me. Dozens of men stronger than you have tried. Now, I'll give you one last chance to be polite, if you really want that letter. You wanna ditch that attitude and talk this out like gentlemen?"

 _ **"... GIVE ME THAT LETTER!"**_

"Now you're just being a sore loser - and a wimp. Guys!"

A ton of Shadows appeared to Akechi.

"I don't got time to waste on you right now, kid. Come back when you've polished your manners. In the meantime, you're gonna have to fight these dudes." The cleaner flicked his cigar behind him and waltzed away, appearing rather bored with the entire affair. "Adios, Akechi!"

Thoroughly angered, Akechi summoned Loki and defeated the guards. After doing so, he considered his options. _Clearly this man does not like me,_ he thought, _and, should I pursue him, he will simply summon more pets for himself to hide behind. So I must plan an alternative course of action…_

He looked up into the rafters of the engine room, and saw the perfect hiding place.

 _Ah-ha._ Akechi now had the perfect plan…

* * *

"So," Fox mused, "Akechi has collected a letter of introduction…" The thieves were now inside a safe room, holding a quick strategy meeting before moving forward.

"We'll have to beat the shit out of him and take it back," Joker summarized confidently. "I'm sure he'll confront us at some point - after all, we already have three letters. Even if he gets the cleaner's letter, he'll still need to get the ones we have."

"So it'll come down to that," Queen realized. "Either he beats us and takes our letters, or we beat him and take his."

"Sounds like fun!" Skull cracked his knuckles excitedly. "It should be easy, right? We already know all his tricks!"

"No…" Queen said, "have you seen that other Persona? He called it Loki…"

"Oh yeah," Skull realized, "... I guess he coulda been hidin' something…"

"I hope we're ready for him," Panther said nervously. "We still don't truly know his full potential…"

"I wouldn't worry," Ace replied, "I am confident that we can defeat him. Oracle seems to be as well."

"Yeah," Oracle assented assuredly, "Ace, you have a very powerful Persona. I am quite sure that with it, plus the help of the others, we'll be able to KO Akechi!"

"His only real advantage is the potential element of surprise," Noir agreed. "We must rob him of that by always remaining on the lookout for him."

"Yeah!" Mona cheered. "I think we can do it, team. In the meantime, we ought to focus on finding that cleaner guy."

"All right team, looks like our minds are all set," Joker said proudly. "Let's go!"

* * *

"You punks!" the cleaner yelled, "whaddya want? Are you looking for trouble like that Akechi kid?"

"Eh, I guess you could say that. But we're after a very different kind of trouble," Joker told the cleaner, smirking.

"Didn't I say you're off the hook? You got guts, bro!" the cleaner laughed uproariously.

"Damn, this guy's scary! For a cognition…" Panther commented.

"Whatever, I'm too busy to deal with you all punks right now. I'll be leaving that to my men here."

"You know we're just going to kick their asses again, right?!" Skull yelled.

"Go ahead and try," the cleaner replied, walking off. "I don't care either way. I got business to take care of."

"Ah well," Ace said, "here we go again, everyone!" She cast a severe Light spell with Irene on all the Shadows, and they were quickly annihilated. "I suppose that's all. Shall we go after him?"

The Phantom Thieves all looked in the general direction of the cleaner's path, and saw him heading into the depths of the engine room. Following him to a locked door, they looked around, puzzled. "How do we get in there?!" Mona wondered.

"I'm sure there must be a passage around here somewhere," Noir reasoned.

"Like that up there?" Queen said, pointing to an air vent above some crates.

"Exactly like that," Joker agreed, "Good eye, Queen. Let's go get this guy!" The thieves leaped onto the crates and entered the air vent, crawling through to the end and emerged into the ship's control room.

"You again? Seriously?" the cleaner seemed annoyed. "You guys just don't know when to stop. Akechi too, what the hell! Is the hit on me really that big?"

"Yes, it is," Joker replied flippantly.

"Well, in that case lemme tell ya, I am a very busy man. I gotta deal with cleanin' up problems, all them mental shutdowns and shit. What do you want?"

"How much for a letter?" Joker questioned.

"So you are after the same shit as Akechi. Why the hell would I give you my letter of introduction?" The cleaner was very irritated. "Whatever…" he tore off his shirt, revealing his huge muscles and tattoos. "What clan are you from?"

"Like… Yakuza clan?!" Skull realized.

"I may have forgot to mention that…" Joker said a bit nervously.

"Seriously?!" Panther was incredulous. "How could you forget a thing like that, Joker?"

"Uhhhh - it just didn't seem like a big deal."

"I've seen many frightening criminals in my time," Ace said, bewildered, "but never a yakuza… this man is truly something else."

"So what do we have to do?" Queen wondered, "prove our worth?"

"Perhaps…" Noir began, but was cut off by the cleaner.

"Hey! Did you punks piss your pants? If you got somethin' to say to me, spit it out!"

"Actually…" Panther said, nervously, "We're here to suggest a tattoo design for you! This guy," she indicated Yusuke, "he's an artist!"

"What?!"

"I have doubts about this…" Mona murmured, without much confidence in his voice.

* * *

Panther's ploy was unsuccessful, and they ended up fighting the cleaner in the end. But when they defeated him he exhibited an unusual reaction for one who had been bested - he _laughed._ And laughed, and laughed, and laughed…

"Ha ha ha, you punks're tough! I like that!" He grinned at them, impressed. "You've got some backbone… and you're a helluva lot cooler than that damn Akechi kid." He straightened his sleeves and dusted his glasses. "All right, I'll give you my letter."

"What?" Joker was surprised.

"You're just… letting us go?" Yusuke asked, equally bewildered.

"Normally, I'd have to 'clean' you guys up for making such a huge mess on Captain Shido's ship, but, there ain't no point in it now." He chuckled again, rather amused. "This place ain't gonna last much longer if we got such powerful soldiers like you runnin' around here."

He picked up a small suitcase and, tossing a few miscellaneous items inside, shut and locked it. "It's time for me to jet. The captain was great and all, but he's gonna have to go down with this ship alone. But before I go…" He turned to them. "That Akechi kid. He got to me first, but he didn't know how to ask nicely like you guys. He's probably camping around here waiting to pick a fight with y'all."

"He is?" Joker asked, "what do you know about how we can defeat him?"

"Not much," the cleaner replied, shrugging, "and it's not like I'd tell you anyway. Don't really care about whatever beef's between you two - Just letting you know." He made for the door. "Well, this was fun, kiddos. See ya later." With that, the yakuza man left the engine room, and was never seen nor heard from again.

"That was an unexpected response. He seems to be rather indifferent on the whole matter of our conflict with Akechi and Shido." Fox mused.

"Well," Noir pointed out, "politicians don't get too close to their shady connections. They must have only been linked monetarily. It would stand to reason that he wouldn't care to stay much longer if Shido went out of business."

"That guy," Joker said, "he reminded me a little of Iwai-san. I guess that's why I wasn't scared of him…"

"Ohhh right, the model gun shop owner - he used to be yakuza, didn't he?" Skull recalled.

"Joker, you know people with connections to the yakuza?" Ace seemed awed. "You never cease to amaze me…"

"You've got guts, Joker," Queen told him.

"Yeah," Oracle said, "it's almost like he's got maximum level guts…"

"He very well might," Mona noted, "with all that bold charisma he's got."

* * *

"Hello down there!" called a familiar, tense, young voice. "Are you all going somewhere?"

Akechi leaped down to the floor of the engine room. For some reason, he was no longer wearing his other, black assassin costume - but now, his false Phantom Thief attire. Joker wondered why.

"You again!" Skull yelled. "You want our letters?! We ain't handin' 'em over!"

"Ah, Akira…" He smiled, in a pleasant, yet cold manner…

"Akechi…"

"I am amazed, that you have continued to entrap me… to trick me, so casually… after all I have done to you. It's something I would quite possibly do myself if I were in your shoes." With this temperament, and wearing his other costume, he seemed almost like himself again… like the Akechi that had kindly conversed with Akira over coffee in the dream world.

"I do wish we had met years earlier, Akira. We could have been great rivals… perhaps even true friends."

"Don't be silly, Akechi. We are rivals." Joker returned Akechi's smile with a bright, excited scowl.

"Ahahahaha! Wonderful," Akechi said, "how good of you to think so. I murdered you, yet you seem to not hold a grudge… to be honest, I am quite envious. You have a good and free heart… but I am simply a useless, terrible child…" His tone grew angrier.

"Your mother…" Queen realized, "Akechi, was that the truth?"

"It was almost," Akechi told her, "she was not killed by my father… though she may as well have been. No, the full truth is much worse…"

* * *

 _ **2004**_

 _ **Akechi Goro, age five, is sitting in his messy bedroom, reading a manga about Robin Hood. He looks quiet, sad…**_

 _ **A small gasp of pain is heard from downstairs.**_

 _ **Curious, the child Goro stands up and carefully approaches the door.**_

 _ **Goro:** Mother?_

 _ **Goro exits the room… the halls which he enters are old, unkempt. Paint peels off the walls here and there.**_

 _ **He walks along the floor, tiptoeing around an endless trail of empty bottles of all manner of alcoholic beverages. Some of them are broken in half, and Goro inadvertently steps upon a broken glass shard… breaking his skin and leaking blood from his heel.**_

 _ **Goro gasps in pain, but continues forth.**_

 _ **Goro:** Mother… I heard a noise…_

 _ **Goro:** Are you alright?_

 _ **There is no response.**_

 _ **Goro emerges onto the floor below. Seeing no sign of life anywhere… he looks at the door to his mother's bedroom… It is slightly ajar.**_

 _ **He knows he is not allowed to enter, but his growing fear overtakes him, and he forays inside… and is horrified by what he sees.**_

 _ **Akechi Goro's mother, Akechi Fumiko, is lying dead upon her bed… the broken top of an empty wine bottle jammed into her throat, blood staining the sheets…**_

 _ **Goro gasps and covers his mouth in shock.**_

 _ **A piece of paper is crumpled in Fumiko's hand. It is torn, faded, and some words can only barely be made out. Goro retrieves it and reads…**_

 _ **Goro:** "Shido… Goro… ruined me… to hell…"_

 _ **Goro:** Mother…_

 _ **Goro:** Did I… make you… ?_

 _ **Goro cries over her corpse.**_

 _ **It will be many hours before the nosy neighbors call… and the police come to get him.**_

 _ **They will be of no help whatsoever.**_

* * *

"That's horrible…" Panther said.

"I… that sounds like…" Ace seemed to recall her own misfortune at hearing Akechi's story.

"Akechi." Joker looked into his eyes kindly. "Surely she didn't -"

"Don't talk like you know," Akechi spat angrily. "She hated me… she never knew me, yet she hated me… and my father… My existence is nothing but a scandal. I was a curse upon her life. Shido cursed her… with me."

* * *

 _ **2010**_

 _ **Akechi Goro watches his father, Shido Masayoshi, addressing the National Diet… A look of utter disdain is laced upon his face.**_

 _ **Shido goes on and on about policy, law and order, other things of supposed importance of which Goro does not understand, nor does he care.**_

 _ **His phone buzzes…**_

 _ **A strange eye logo appears upon the screen.**_

 _ **Curious, Goro presses it… and finds himself transported to a new world… The interior of a ship. A grand hall. And his father… or something that looks like his father…**_

* * *

"And that's when it happened…" Akechi turned to the sky and cackled like mad. _**"THAT'S WHEN I LEARNED ABOUT THE COGNITIVE WORLD!"**_

He now sounded truly demented. The Phantom Thieves all watched, guarded, as he laughed and laughed…

"Someone, be it god or demon, gave me a chance! I couldn't contain my laughter… !"

* * *

 _ **Goro runs from the Shadows, terrified, and panicked. They back him into a corner, when all of a sudden, a deep, menacing voice begins to speak to him…**_

 _ **He watches, confused, as his arms begin to emit a blue flame…**_

 _ **A menacing black mask appears upon his face, and a baffled Goro starts to tug at it gently.**_

* * *

 _ **Goro returns to his foster home, and is greeted by one of the wards - an alarmingly dislikable person. He is a menacing adult, this blonde-haired man in a plain, average outfit wearing a staff badge.**_

 _ **He says something to Goro, who begins to scowl with contempt, and a terrible, malicious intent dances within his eyes.**_

* * *

 _ **The boy in the black mask leaps to and fro above the Shadow of the dislikable man, which looks about, confused and terrified of whatever fate awaits him…**_

 _ **Smiling like a maniac, Goro unleashes Loki and vaporizes the Shadow. It disappears…**_

* * *

"You're insane." Ace gasped. "You're beyond insane… You are sick, Akechi…"

"You son of a bitch!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Ah, it doesn't matter… my targets were all doing the same damn thing, in this eat or be eaten world… I simply removed their evil from society! How is that any different from you?!"

"We're not murderers!" Panther shouted.

"SO WHAT?!" Akechi swung his arms dismissively, and the fury in his eyes began to elevate to volcanic levels. "You all ruined my plan! I had Shido Masayoshi finally within my grasp…"

He slowed, and began to breathe, then said more quietly - "But… I must thank you, Joker… you made me realize the futility of acquiring his recognition. I told him the truth… the whole truth… and he simply killed me… ! I was going to prevail over him… but now I see. He shall not acknowledge me, no matter what I do. So I shall kill him… _and you…_ and I will take all the letters which you have obtained… _**you cannot STOP ME!"**_

"Oh, we'll stop you, Akechi," Mona said, "we won't allow you to destroy another life - no matter how much evil that life may hold… we will not permit it! You may talk big, but it's just as Joker said - you're simply a child throwing a temper tantrum!"

"Don't lecture me, you piece of shit!" Akechi snarled. "I will have those letters of introduction! I will succeed! So, Joker… rest easy and die."

"Oh, I don't plan on dying." Joker said, flippantly.

"I didn't ask for your opinion," Akechi replied, straightening the cuffs of costume. He summoned forth two Shadows, and then called out… "PERSONA!"

Akechi's other Persona… Loki, appeared, and cast some sort of spell on the two Shadows. They turned a deep brown, and their eyes went from red to yellow…

"What did you do… ?!" Queen shouted.

"Ahahahaha…" Akechi laughed, "the mental shutdowns aren't the only incidents people have been talking about… there are also the psychotic breakdowns… and thanks to _my power…"_

"His power… ?" Oracle gasped. "He turned them psychotic?!"

"Don't underestimate these two," Akechi laughed, leaping away to watch the battle play out from afar. It did not last long - the two psychotic Shadows were quickly defeated.

"Well done," Akechi said, leaping forth in front of them. "I didn't seriously expect them to defeat you…"

"Oh, I know," Joker said, grinning. "Because you want to kill us all with your own hands… am I right?"

"Precisely."

"We'll beat you yet," Joker told him. _"YAMATA NO OROCHI!"_

Joker attacked Akechi with a tremendous light spell, weakening him greatly. The others followed up, and soon enough, he was knocked down. "Ah… so neither of us had shown our true strengths…"

"Yeah," Joker quipped, "we didn't play fair with each other."

"That will not do any longer, I think," Akechi said, mockingly. "I shall have to rectify that… _MEGIDOLAON!"_

The team took a good bit of damage, but ultimately recovered, and fired back at Akechi. Soon enough, he seemed to be defeated…

"DAMMIT!"

* * *

 _ **"DAMMIT! AKECHI! You… you're a worthless little brat!"**_

 _ **"Shido… what did I do wrong?"**_

 _ **"He didn't die the right way! He leaked out critical information! Can't you control these things…"**_

 _ **"But…"**_

 _ **"CAN YOU OR NOT?!"**_

* * *

"I can't believe the power to control and turn others psychotic was born from within his heart…" Queen lamented, horrified.

"I'll… kill you…" Akechi groaned. "I killed you before… I'll kill you again… _you're all **going to DIE… !"**_

"Will you please stop?!" Panther shouted at him. "You're fighting the wrong people! We both hate the same guy! Why do we have to go up against each other?!"

"Killing us won't make you happy," Queen seconded.

Ace nodded in agreement at her sister's words. "This behavior is not reasonable," she told Akechi, "it will not result in any meaningful outcomes for you."

"But… I…"

"That fake Medjed you guys put out," Oracle said, nervously, "that… that was the worst trap! But I moved past it… I'm here now… I came out of my closet… Basically… it doesn't matter where you start over! Come on!"

"Why do you need to kill Shido to feel better?!" Skull yelled. "That doesn't make any frickin' sense! There's gotta be a better way!"

"Akechi," Joker said, a warm kindness permeating his voice, "you don't hate me… do you? That smile before we fought…"

"Yes, isn't that how you really feel?" Mona asked.

"… ?!"

Akechi was confused…

* * *

 _ **"Goro…**_

 _ **"Please… don't allow my failure to tie you down. Just because I fucked up… just because I did such horrible things to you. Don't let that hurt you."**_

 _ **"Mommy…"**_

 _ **"Goro, I don't want you to live a life of suffering. I want you to follow your heart… to be free…"**_

 _ **"But no one is free in the end… are they?"**_

 _ **"..."**_

 _ **"..."**_

 _ **"..."**_

 _ **"Your mother was but a drunken fool. You aren't smart enough to live freely… You're a worthless, useless child…"**_

* * *

"Even if you think people hate you, or don't want you around, that's -"

 _NO! I won't listen! They're trash - wrong!_

"Shut up _shut up **shut up SHUT UP!"**_

Akechi stood up, furious, angered even further. "Teammates? Friends? _**TO HELL WITH THAT! WHY AM I INFERIOR TO YOU?!"**_

"You aren't infer -" Joker began, but Akechi cut him off.

"I WAS EXTREMELY PARTICULAR -"

* * *

 _ **"Goro-kun… wear this nice suit."**_

 _ **"Why?"**_

 _ **"Because the other children will like you. You're a horrible, incorrigible, twisted child… we can't help you change that. But, wear this nice suit, get good grades, act nice… if you wear a nice face, people will like you. We won't have to kick you out of this foster home.**_

 _ **I heard they kicked you out of the last one for… what was it… a number of things - but in particular, you stole something or other -"**_

 _ **"A doll…"**_

 _ **"Why would you steal a doll?"**_

 _ **"... I never had one myself."**_

 _ **"That's a dreadful thing to do, Goro-kun… If you never had a doll, clearly you never deserved one…"**_

* * *

 _ **"You're special now. You made it on TV. You're a detective…"**_

 _ **"Yeah…"**_

 _ **"The Second Coming of the Detective Prince. What a lovely title. But - why are you so interested in that Shido person?"**_

 _ **"Er… you could say I want to… work for him…"**_

 _ **"With your newfound fame, Goro-kun, I think that can easily be arranged."**_

* * *

"How can such a worthless piece of trash be more special than me?!" Akechi shouted.

"Akechi… that's not the case… we're not better than you." Joker told him.

"Is that supposed to be pity… ? YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

"You found your way into my dreams… I couldn't do that to you in return," Joker told him - but Akechi wasn't listening. There was a flash of black - Akechi's clothes briefly changed from his false thief costume to his suit.

"He… he changed," Queen said in shock.

"Look out!" Mona shouted.

"What… on Earth… is he doing…?" Ace wondered.

Akechi began to laugh and laugh and laugh…

 _"I don't care about Shido anymore… I just want to see you all **DIE!"**_

* * *

 _ **"Who are you?! Why are you in my office?!"**_

 _ **"Shido-san… my name is Akechi Goro, the Ace Detective… I have… specialties, that may be of service to you. You may want to close the door…"**_

* * *

"He made himself go berserk… !" Skull yelled in surprise.

"He's utterly demented…" Noir squeaked. "How could this happen to him?!"

Akechi cast a strong spell on the entire party which knocked everyone down…

"We're…" Oracle shouted, "he's got us cornered… I think… I think we miscalculated!"

"Is… this the end?!" Fox said, not believing it. "We can't die again… not here…"

And then Ace stood up. Something seemed different about her… her black gown seemed to move much more fluidly than usual. It was almost as if she were floating.

"Akechi…" she called out, "you may hate your father… you may hate us… but what is the point in this… Why do you feel this need… to win?"

* * *

 _ **"Sis… why do you need to win?"**_

 _ **"Because…"**_

* * *

"Because, Sae-san… I hate you!" Akechi yelled furiously.

"How redundant," Ace told him, "You think that's a good reason? Hate or not, it's useless to let your emotions control you. It doesn't matter."

* * *

 _ **"It doesn't matter. I have to get this promotion. For us…"**_

 _ **"But, Sis…"**_

 _ **"The men in charge. They think I'm inferior. I need to prove them wrong."**_

* * *

"I'm better than you… I need to prove you wrong!"

"No. You don't," Ace told Akechi firmly. "I once believed myself that I needed to rise above others… that I needed to prove myself better… But I was wrong. That was an error, born out of anger at the system of society… And I took it out on the wrong people… just like you're doing right now."

"But… !"

"No," Ace repeated. "I've let go of that bitterness… I'm no longer angry at my sister… or the men who discounted me… nor even am I angry at you, Akechi. I am… myself again. My full, true self. I am… free."

New, fresh blue flames began to erupt from beneath Ace's feet.

 _I am thou…_  
 _Thou art I…_  
 _In discarding what little remained of your fury…_  
 _Ridding yourself of your corrupt, false mask…_  
 _Thou hast completed the path of true justice…_

 _And thou hast awakened to **new power…**_

"What's happening?!" Noir asked urgently.

"Ace!" yelled Panther, "are you alright?!"

"Oracle," Joker shouted, "what the hell is going on?!"

"She's…" Oracle gaped in shock. "Ace is having a second awakening… !"

Irene appeared above Ace, and, now bathed in a brilliant blue light, began to transform into an entirely new being… a tall, fair woman in black robes, wearing gold armbands…

"That's Ace's new Persona?!" Noir gasped, "it's… it's beautiful…"

"It only just awakened… so it's more powerful than normal!" Oracle exclaimed excitedly.

Ace stared at Akechi intently, looking calm, plain, and prepared. There was some sort of… joy in her eyes… Something very young.

 _"JUNO!"_

Akechi stood up to meet her eyes with a childishly defiant, challenging face.

 _"LOKI!"_

And then, the both of them shouted simultaneously - _**"EIGAON!"**_

The two darkness spells, cast at precisely the same moment, flew to and from the both of them… but, canceling each other out, became the catalyst for a huge explosion, the likes of which Joker had never seen. Ace and Akechi were sent flying in opposite directions through the engine room.

"So that's what happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object…" Joker quipped, regaining his composure and standing up.

"What are you doing?!" Ace yelled at the rest of Phantom Thieves. "He's dazed! Attack him at once!"

No one needed to tell them twice. With Akechi knocked down and surprised, the team quickly overtook him. He fell swiftly to the floor, crying and groaning in defeat. "You ready to call it quits?" Ryuji asked.

"Yes… I know… I've had enough…" He looked up at Joker sadly… enviously, even. "You're so lucky… to be surrounded by teammates who acknowledge you…" he choked, "and once Shido confesses - you'll all be heroes."

He held out the TV Station President's letter of introduction. "You're going to need this… Joker."

Joker walked over and took it. "Thanks."

"And as for me… people will find out that my past deductions were all charade and my fame and trust will vanish."

"I see," Mona said, "so you turned people psychotic, then solved the cases yourself…"

Akechi nodded. "In the end… I couldn't be special…"

"Dude," Skull said, "you're more than special."

Akechi looked up, surprised. "... What?"

"It pains me to admit," Queen told him, "but your wit and strength far exceeds ours… I was honestly envious of your natural ability."

"Yeah," Joker added, "you nearly got us… Ace helped - but it was only because we all worked together that we defeated you."

"It was frustrating," Ace contributed, "to think how I once trusted you so… but you are truly something, Akechi. You and I were evenly matched in that moment."

"I have no intention of forgiving you for what you did to me… to all of us… and to my father," Noir told him kindly, "but… I understand. I see that you wanted to get back at the adults who took from you…"

"But you used that power selfishly," Fox continued, "when you finally gained it, you did nothing but abuse it."

"If you have the ability to use multiple Personas," Oracle noted, "you probably have the same talents as Joker. But your power was fueled by lies and hate..."

"Hang on…" Joker murmured to himself. _The same talents?_

 _"There won't be any Velvet Room to save you"_

The Velvet Room… how did Akechi know? But, no one seemed to notice his murmuring… Fox went on telling Akechi about how he excelled above them in every area besides his will…

But - Joker was more interested in something else. Where did Akechi get his powers?

"Hold up, Akechi," Joker said, walking over to him and kneeling to meet his eyes. "How do you know about the Velvet Room?"

"The Velvet Room…" Akechi looked at him, confused. "You… why do you…"

"What do you know, Akechi?"

"You used its powers somehow… and… right, I know because -"

"Joker!" Queen yelled. "What are you doing?"

Before Joker could explain himself, the rest of the team let out a collective gasp… _"AKECHI?!"_

"Another Akechi?" exclaimed Fox in shock. "Is that -"

"Shido's cognitive Akechi!" Mona yelled.

The cognitive Akechi leveled a pistol at the real Akechi's head. "Captain Shido's orders… he has no need for losers. Heh, I do wonder how you're here, considering that Shido already killed you…"

"What?!" the real Akechi was stunned. "Why is this -"

"The captain is puzzled as to how you came back, but no matter," Cognitive Akechi went on, "he will get rid of you as many times as needed before you run out of luck… it's time you receive retribution for causing the mental shutdowns."

"B - but - what the hell?!" Skull shouted incredulously, "that bastard's the one who put him up to it!"

"Oracle," Panther asked, "can't we just defeat it?!"

"It's… it's too powerful!" Oracle said, "way more than any other of the cognitions we've faced here… !"

Akechi chuckled, extremely amused. "I see… hahaha! I was wondering how he'd protect himself if I used my power to tear through his Palace… and it's this. You. A puppet to kill me… Seems like something he'd do."

He pulled out his own firearm and aimed it as his cognitive self. "So… my final enemy is a puppet version of myself… not ba -"

 _ **BANG!**_

The cognitive Akechi suddenly dropped to the ground.

"Wha - what - the hell - agggh!"

"Ace - what are you doing? We can't fight that thing!" Joker screamed.

"No, no, it's okay - I forgot," Oracle realized, "Ace's new Persona… the second awakening… her power levels are still through the roof!"

"How… dare you…" Cognitive Akechi started to get up, but Ace, still pointing her gun at him, said firmly, "Oh no you don't… you foolish bastard. Shido won't need his little toy anymore… _JUNO - **KOUGAN!"**_

"Sae-san?! Wha - what are you doing?!" the real Akechi yelled.

"What does it look like, Akechi?!" Ace shouted, "I'm saving your life! I won't stand for this!"

The cognitive Akechi, burning in light, screamed, transformed into a grotesque-looking Shadow, then back again, melted into blackness… And then it was gone. Panting, Ace called Juno back, and the newly awakened Persona assimilated back into her mask.

"What did you do that for?!" Akechi screamed at Ace. "You fool! All of you - fools! You should have just left me here ages ago! I was going to save you all from him! I was going to let him kill me! I - _I deserved to die at his hands for all I've done -"_

"Are you some kinda nut?!" Skull shouted. "You don't deserve to die!"

"You were going to needlessly sacrifice yourself," Queen summarized incredulously, "simply because you 'deserved' it? And to 'save us' from your cognitive self? Why?!"

"That doesn't make any sense," Noir agreed, "why would you do such a thing?"

"It seems to me that you simply wanted to die, and to die in a spectacular manner, so that we would appreciate you afterwards," Fox scolded. "I can't help but consider that a rather conceited line of thought."

"But - I killed you… Sae-san! Why would you save me? Don't you want revenge?!"

"I can never forgive you for murdering all of us," Ace told him, "but that doesn't mean I will stand back and allow Shido's monsters to take the life of a child. I can't stay angry at you, Akechi. It simply isn't in my heart to do so."

"You're being silly," Mona added. "Ace just saved you, Akechi. Aren't you grateful?"

"I - uh - !"

"Akechi," Joker said, firmly, "you're going to get out of our way now, and let us change Shido's heart, right? If you're not going to be of any help to us, just get the hell out of here before more of Shido's minions show up to try and off you."

Akechi was silent. Panther waved in the general direction of the exit. "Like Joker said, if all you're going to do is complain that we saved you - then just leave!"

Disbelief and confusion laced across his face, Akechi stood up and departed.

"All right, well, that's that," Oracle said conclusively, "now all that's left to do is go check the Treasure room, head back to the dream world, and plan the calling card!"

* * *

"So, it's Christmas…" Mishima muttered to himself. "Christmas without the Phantom Thieves." He had been quite looking forward to spending time this Christmas with Akira and all his friends. Naturally, that wasn't going to happen… Instead, he was spending more of his time putting up missing posters. Posters, and posts, on the Phan-site. Still no good comments, if ever any at all.

He was walking about in Shibuya, tearing down some of the vandalized posters and putting up new ones in their place. People did all sorts of nutty things to them - drawing mustaches and/or other immature features, writing crude words, and/or strategically tearing out letters to spell other crude words. Mishima was quite irritated by their attitude, but he continued putting them up anyway.

All of a sudden, his attention was caught by a familiar voice from the giant screen… the Prime Minister Shido Masayoshi. Making an announcement of some sort.

 _"In accordance with this new policy, public support of such criminals as the now-deceased Phantom Thieves shall be condemned… offenders will be fined."_

Fined? So… he could be charged with something, simply for running the Phan-site?

His phone buzzed.

 **Takemi:** Did you all see the Prime Minister's announcement?  
 **Ohya:** I could get fined just for writing an article in the paper saying something good about the Phantom Thieves? Doesn't seem right.  
 **Yoshida:** I agree… this does not seem to be a productive policy. I feel both sides of an argument need to be heard. I am strongly opposed to this.  
 **Mishima:** It's weird… is he even allowed to pass a law like that?  
 **Hifumi:** Unfortunately, Shido can more or less do whatever he likes… it's quite a sorry state of affairs.  
 **Iwai:** That Shido guy? I dunno, I don't usually care 'bout election. Didn't vote. Probably should have, though.  
 **Chihaya:** Did you see his address the other day? He talked so much about all these things like money and housing and the future of the youth, but he named no specifics - it feels rather unsettling.  
 **Kawakami:** I don't like him, but I'm scared to discuss it with anyone… the school supports him very openly. I'm afraid of losing my job.  
 **Shinya:** I don't get it. What's wrong with saying good stuff about the Phantom Thieves?

Mishima sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. He didn't care what Prime Minister Shido said - he was going to keep the Phan-site up as long as he ever could. They would have to pry it from his cold, dead hands.

* * *

Akira wondered what else Akechi knew. About the Velvet Room. How was he able to wield multiple Personas? It seemed to be limited to two, so it was surely lesser than his potential… but nonetheless, he knew about the Velvet Room. Was Igor giving assistance to both sides?

Akira supposed he would have to ask Akechi the next time he saw him - if ever he saw him again. In the meantime, he finished his coffee.

"Did you finish hacking into the TV station?" Makoto inquired, standing up from her position next to Akira and going to look at Futaba's screen.

"Yep yep," Futaba said excitedly, "I sure did! I figured out a way through all their security and to tapes of every single cut of that special. Downloaded the final cut - it's now right here on my hard drive."

"Shall we watch it?" Haru asked, "I'm rather curious about what it says…"

"I'm almost scared to watch it," Ann told them.

"Well," Akira said, "if we don't watch it, we won't have a clue what Shido's lackeys are feeding the public."

"I must agree," Sae seconded, "for the sake of enlightening ourselves, we really ought to have a look at it."

"Man, it's gonna be such crap though… I dunno if I can watch it without getting pissed as hell." Ryuji seemed a little tired.

"I'll try to look past the content to an extent and appreciate the style and edits made," Yusuke said hopefully. "Perhaps it may not be garbage in terms of visuals."

"Focusing on style is always a good idea," Morgana agreed. "But, anyway, it seems we're mostly in agreement. Play it, Futaba!"

Futaba tapped the spacebar, and the stolen television special began to play…

 _"The Phantom Thieves… criminals… murderers… teenagers… WATCH, as we uncover the truth behind these tortured souls… their true lives. Kurusu Akira…"_

 _WHAT?!_ Akira was flabbergasted by the use of his name and photo. He wasn't the only one. Everyone nearly jumped out of their seats. At this reaction, Futaba paused it. "They're using our names?!" Skull yelled.

"But, with the exception of myself and Haru, those were never released to the media…" Makoto was utterly stupefied.

"They… shouldn't have…" Sae looked confused.

"Holy crap," Akira said, "I am already not liking this. Keep it going, Futaba." Futaba nodded and continued playing back the recording.

 _"Sakamoto Ryuji… Takamaki Ann… Niijima Makoto… Kitagawa Yusuke… Sakura Futaba… Okumura Haru…"_

"They chose the wrong picture," Yusuke muttered, "I would have preferred a more up-to-date one befitting of my current polish…"

 _"These are the Phantom Thieves. Who were these troubled teenagers? Why did they turn to the dark side? Follow along tonight as we tell you their story…"_

* * *

 _ **End Note:**_ I do have a plan here, I swear, and it doesn't involve Akechi turning all goody-goody. This was a pretty tough but fun scene to reinterpret, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I did want to trivialize Cognitive Akechi, but simultaneously I didn't want to totally ruin the drama of that moment in the game. Like, why didn't they just shoot him like Sae did? So I wrote in Futaba's explanation, and now it can be assumed that without Sae the same shit would've went down. Although I'm sure you can poke holes in that too, but whatever. I did my best.

Anyway, next time they're planning the calling card. It's gonna be quite fun! I'll be doing a lot of explaining stuff.


	21. Televising the Revolution

_"These are the Phantom Thieves. Who were these troubled teenagers? Why did they turn to the dark side? Follow along tonight as we tell you their story…"_

"Our story, huh?" Akira stared at Futaba's laptop screen with curious skepticism. "Let's see what they got for us."

 _"The mastermind behind these crimes, Kurusu Akira, was sent packing after he assaulted an innocent man one night in his small hometown. He was placed upon probation and sent to Tokyo to live with Sakura Sojiro, the owner of a local coffee shop known ominously as 'Leblanc.'"_

Akira was not bothered too much by what the special was saying about him. He supposed it was because he had been so used to all the rumors flying around about him at Shujin.

"'Ominously?'" Haru gaped, "my, what nonsense."

"Preposterous hyperbole," Yusuke agreed.

 _"Upon capture, he stole a gun while in custody, murdered a guard under unknown circumstances, and shot himself dead. Though his motives are unknown, he was reportedly an effective con man - surprising though it may be to some, especially considering his age - and successfully convinced many other unwitting individuals to join his cause."_

"A con man? Murdered a guard?" Makoto was shocked by the lies on the screen.

 _"It is highly suspected that…"_

"Why are they even airing this?!" Ann shouted in disbelief as the announcer went on and on about Akira and the horrible things he never did. "We're already 'dead.' Is there any point?"

"Just like I thought - total bullshit!" Ryuji shouted.

"Hang on," Akira said, "they're talking about you, Ryuji."

 _"Kurusu's right-hand man in this criminal enterprise, Sakamoto Ryuji, was a delinquent and former school track star. Sakamoto was kicked off the Shujin Academy track team after he was disciplined by and thereafter launched an unprovoked assault on an innocent staff member."_

"Wha - Kamoshida? _INNOCENT?!"_

 _"Takamaki Ann, a teenage model, was recruited into the group for rather petty reasons - she was jealous of another student who possessed a superior body shape. Surely this was a great blow to her ego, which contributed greatly to her motivations in joining the Phantom Thieves."_

"This is ridiculous!" Ann shouted. "I wasn't jealous of anybody!"

 _"The three of them somehow forced a 'change of heart' on Kamoshida Seguru, the school's star gym teacher. Assault and blackmail were strongly suspected by the police. To this day, we have no idea how it was achieved…"_

An unfamiliar boy in a Shujin uniform appeared on screen. _"Yeah, everyone was afraid of the Phantom Thieves. Kamoshida-sensei was presumably attacked, somehow. He was just a gym teacher. We were all afraid of what they would do next…"_

"I ain't never seen that guy at Shujin before!" shouted Ryuji.

"Me neither," Akira said, "he's gotta be an actor or something."

The special went on and on and on…

 _"Kitagawa Yusuke, who threw away a shot at life as a famous artist from the formerly glorious painter Madarame Ichiryusai… Died at a coffee shop under mysterious circumstances, and was later reported to have been painting twisted creations, almost certainly reflective of his disturbed criminal mind…"_

"My criminal mind?" Yusuke laughed, "ha, my mind is many things… but disturbed? Truly an absurd thought."

 _"Okumura Haru, the disturbed child of Okumura Kunikazu, who, to acquire her father's inheritance, assisted the Phantom Thieves in pulling off his murder. Her profound greed and desire to control the company were her primary driving desires in this horrid act."_

"My… my father's inheritance…" Haru squeaked, "no… no! I wanted anything but that! How can they say such things?!"

 _"Niijima Makoto, formerly student council president, expelled from Shujin upon discovery of being a Phantom Thief, deranged and troubled, murdered her sister, prosecutor Niijima Sae. Both Niijimas died in the ensuing struggle as the victim attempted to defend herself. Their toxic sibling rivalry surely led to this deadly confrontation, as well as led to her joining the Phantom Thieves - culminating in their arrest when they attempted to target the elder Niijima."_

"I… that can't be…" Makoto gasped. "Killed my sister?!"

"What a cruel thing to have the world believe," Sae said in disgust.

 _"These are the Phantom Thieves. These are their stories. Let us never forget the chaos they plunged this country into, and preserve our safety, now that they are all dead. Praise to Masayoshi Shido, Prime Minister, who kindly endorsed this program and provided production funding."_

"That… those lies… that is unforgivable!" Ann screamed furiously. "How could anyone not see that this isn't true?! It's all just to make Shido out to be so great!"

"What the hell?!" Ryuji yelled. "'Their stories,' my ass! They're painting us as a bunch of bad guys and crazy people!"

"That was poorly written, edited and shot," Yusuke said, seeming disappointed, "on top of being ridiculously biased and factually incorrect. I can't believe anyone would allow this slander to be taken as reality."

"This is absolute garbage. We can't let this further smear the name of the Phantom Thieves." Morgana said with determination. "We have to stop this from airing!"

"My thoughts exactly," Akira agreed, enthused. "This can't be allowed to go on TV. We can't permit our memories to be dishonored, and the people of Japan to be deceived, by such a ridiculous piece of attention-hungry media sensationalism!"

"And we are going to do exactly that…" Futaba assured them, smirking. "I have a new idea for our plan to take care of it!"

"How about you tell us about it tomorrow?" Haru suggested. "I could use a little time to think. That was very unsettling to watch."

"Yes," Makoto said, "I think that would be the wisest course of action. Between this, Akechi, and all that has happened in the Palace… we have had a long day. It would be best for us all to rest."

"Very well," Yusuke said, "I will submit to a break."

"Goodnight, all of you," Sae said sweetly, "I hope that your plan works."

With that, the Phantom Thieves all retired to their resting places and closed their eyes, pretending to sleep in the sleepless world.

* * *

Sae sat in front of the bar in Leblanc, while everyone else reclined in the booths. She thought about what had happened earlier that day… she had let go of her anger. She had recalled her true self. Sae remembered how when she was little… when Makoto was born, she had been so happy. Happy about having a baby sister…

Sighing, she decided to try another attempt at coffee. She had sworn to herself before that she would never try again, but somehow… she felt good about it this time…

As she let it sit and steep, she remembered something from long ago. She had been about fifteen years old…

* * *

 ** _2007_**

 ** _Sae:_** _Makoto… do you like coffee?_

 ** _Makoto:_** _I don't know, Sis. Do you like coffee?_

 ** _Sae:_** _I don't know. I never had any…_

 ** _Makoto:_** _You should try it!_

 ** _Sae laughs beautifully._**

 ** _Makoto:_** _Try it, Sis! Try it and tell me what you think!_

 ** _Sae:_** _Haha, okay, Makoto. I'll try it._

 ** _Makoto:_** _Yay!_

 ** _Sae:_** _But I have to make some first._

* * *

Sae took a sip of her coffee.

It tasted… somehow… bittersweet. Odd. Strange. Did she do it right? Perhaps it needed some sugar or something. Sae plucked a few sugar cubes from the cabinet and tossed them in, then took another sip.

 _"BLEH -"_

Now her coffee was too sweet.

How did the dream coffee work, anyway?

* * *

 ** _Sae:_** _Bleh - ugh, I don't like it._

 ** _Makoto:_** _Maybe you made it wrong._

 ** _Sae:_** _I don't know. I shouldn't have. I followed all the instructions…_

 ** _Makoto:_** _What if I give it a try?_

 ** _Sae:_** _Makoto, you're too young…_

 ** _Makoto:_** _Please?_

 ** _Sae laughs once more_**

 ** _Sae:_** _Maybe someday. When you're a little older._

* * *

Sae wondered if Makoto would be interested in trying it still…

Not wanting it to go to waste, she drank the rest of her too-sweet coffee, and decided to rest her head.

* * *

Mishima's phone buzzed again. It was now early morning… morning. The 26th. Christmas was over. Good. Christmas had totally sucked, and he was glad it was over.

He opened up the Phan-site on his phone… to discover something horrible. It had disappeared…

* * *

 ** _12/26/2016_** ** _  
_** ** _  
_** ** _Days Until Television Special: 1_**

"Makoto," Sae inquired, "would you like to try a cup of coffee?"

"Coffee…" Makoto mused. "Akira makes me coffee sometimes."

"Have you ever tried making coffee yourself?" Sae beamed at Makoto kindly. "You should… make sure you follow all the instructions."

Makoto was silent. She took a second to fully comprehend. "Wait… Sis…"

Makoto looked Sae in the eyes… and saw someone she had not seen for several years. She nearly leaped over the bar to give her sister the tightest, most joyful hug. Tears of joy began to fall from her eyes… Sae, also crying happily at having fully rediscovered herself, returned the embrace.

"It's because of your Persona… ?"

"No…" Sae told her sister, "It's the reason for my Persona."

"I think… I think Dad would be proud of us…"

Sae smiled warmly. "I think so too, Makoto."

* * *

The space beside Akira in his bed was empty… Makoto had gotten up. The distinct scent of Leblanc's coffee rose from below. Arising from his night of non-sleep, Akira stood up and changed his clothes before wandering downstairs and into the dream Leblanc.

Makoto and Sae were drinking coffee together. They were laughing and smiling…

"Makoto," Akira said, "good morning."

"Good morning, Akira," Makoto said warmly. She looked rather pleased with herself for some reason. "Would you like to try some of my coffee?"

"Yes please," Akira replied earnestly. Makoto offered him the cup, and he took a sip. "Mmm… a little stronger than I'm used to, but, good effort. Hmm, I have an idea…"

Akira went and opened his Shujin schoolbag, then retrieved a box of month old "Makoto Donuts."

"'Makoto Donuts?!'" Sae giggled. "Makoto, did you start a donut business of some sort?"

"I suppose… I - If having my boyfriend as the only customer qualifies it for the title of a business," Makoto said meekly. "Akira, how do you have those?"

"Well, I left them in Leblanc… dream world etc…" Akira sighed, "it doesn't matter. They smell the same as we left them." He took a Makoto Donut out of the box. It was small and had purple icing. He eagerly dipped it in the coffee and took a bite. "Ehhh… tastes better by itself."

"You know when they say coffee with donuts, they don't mean mix them together, right?" Haru said, standing up from her reclining position in the booth. "Although, I do quite like the idea. Very creative of you, Akira. Mako-chan, these are your own handmade donuts?"

Makoto nodded. Haru approached Akira and extended her hand towards the box. "May I?" Akira signaled his consent, and Haru took a Makoto Donut, then bit into it with great interest. "Mmmm…"

After a moment of savoring the taste, Haru smiled appreciatively. "Mako-chan - these are delicious! They're even better than some donuts I've had from shops!"

"Really?" Makoto seemed a bit awed by the praise. "I didn't really put any sort of professional effort into them… they were only a gift for Akira."

"It's because you made them with love," Morgana told her, his attention having been earned by the Akira and Haru's praise of the donuts. "That's why they're so filled with such delicious jelly, right? Right? I want one!"

Haru broke a chunk off the Makoto Donut and fed it to Morgana. His facial expression convulsed, turning from excited to revolted. "Uh… uhhh _mewww_ bleh!" He spat the donut piece out. "Never mind, that tastes terrible!"

"It must be because of your refined tastes," Yusuke suggested. "Because you are so accustomed to sushi."

" - ?! Sushi is way more delectable than this _tasteless cotton!"_

"Morgana, dude," Ryuji said, "calm down."

"I don't mind criticism of my cooking," Makoto replied, "but please do be civil about it, Morgana."

"Let me try one," Sae requested, taking another of the Makoto Donuts and having a taste. She looked delighted. "Makoto… I never know you were such a good cook! These are splendid!"

"Quite so," Haru said, greedily munching down the remainder of her own donut. "You know, Mako-chan, I want to start a cafe someday, much like this one. If ever I get to that, I would like to employ you to make donuts there."

"I'll probably be busy with police work…" Makoto laughed, still humbling herself in response to everyone's compliments, "but that certainly sounds nice."

"Well," Ann pointed out, "you probably have to sort out that whole business with being expelled first…"

"Oh yeah, true."

Yusuke tried a Makoto Donut for himself. "My, such a unique flavor… I've never had donuts before! This is an excellent first sampling."

"What's all this about donuts?" Ryuji asked, as he sat up and yawned.

"I want one!" Ann shouted excitedly. She snatched two Makoto Donuts from the box and stuffed her face.

Ryuji looked disturbed by her behavior. "I… I think I'll pass."

Akira laughed, very amused by his reaction. "What? It's not like Ann's touch makes donuts poisonous or anything."

"Uh 'course not!" Ryuji said, "it's just, I wanna keep in shape. Gotta run and stuff y'know. By the way, aren't we supposed to be planning the calling card?"

"We finished infiltration a day early," Makoto pointed out. "We can take a break."

* * *

Futaba had been feverishly tapping away at her laptop the whole day, and did not partake in the chatting and donut eating. All of a sudden, she swore loudly at something. Everyone turned her way, startled.

"Futaba… ?!" Akira wondered, "What's with the sudden outburst?"

"Futaba-chan," Haru asked, concerned, "Are you alright? I've never heard you curse before."

"The Phantom Aficionado Website…" Futaba groaned, "Mishima's Phan-site… it's been taken down!"

 ** _"WHAT?!"_** Everyone recoiled in surprise. "Who - how - ?!"

"Didn't you take it down before…" Akira recalled, "to prove that you could hack?"

"And then I put it back up!" Futaba replied, sounding very furious. "This… no… this is someone else. This code… this is the same person who tampered with the Phan-site before! Shido's IT guy!"

"What kind of asshole wastes his time on such a tiny thing like some high school kid's website?!" Ryuji shouted incredulously. "I can't believe this!"

"Can you put it back up, Futaba?" Ann questioned.

"That'd be difficult," Futaba said, "I don't have the files. It would take a really long time."

 _"Soon… our happy future…"_ Shido barked from the TV, _"shall materialize as I_ ** _steer this country_** _towards prosperity!"_

"Steer this country?" Akira wondered aloud. He had heard that somewhere before _…_

 _Yeah… that's right. That night when…_

* * *

 _The boy is smart, quiet and pure - the perfect teenager, a compliant student. Though his life has its own ups and downs, he lives an overall good, warm, quiet life. His parents, though they do not speak to him much, provide for him well, and he leads an averagely comfortable life. His mother is a small-time baker, and his father works a decent job in Japan government doing mysterious, classified work of which the boy knows little, nor does he care._

 _Kurusu Akira has a bright future ahead of him. He is a brilliant boy and got good grades, yet rarely participates in any social activities. He is quiet, often indifferent regarding the state of the world around him, and he has few friends. While he does not know precisely what he wishes to do with his life, he is confident that he will choose the right path._

 _It is all on this one night that his confidence in himself vanishes on the spot, at the petty whim of a one arrogant man…_

* * *

 **A woman is crying for help…**

 **A tall, menacing figure is drunkenly advancing upon her.**

 **You are watching…**

 **INTERVENE/** **WALK AWAY***

 ** _I can't ignore this._**

* * *

 _With that thought, the boy rushes to help._

 ** _"GET IN THE CAR! Incompetent fools like you just need to shut your mouth and follow where I steer this country!"_**

* * *

 _With one single good deed - one attempt to help others, perhaps the first he has ever made - the boy's life is destroyed. He is arrested, charged with assault, and expelled from school. His friends refuse to speak to him. His parents, too busy to bother with him, send him away to Tokyo. And here, his life ends, and begins again, unfairly branded with the label of a criminal…_

 _Distraught, furious, Akira wonders… How is this justice?_

* * *

"So, what's your plan, Futaba?" Morgana asked.

"Plan…" Akira murmured. Shido continued yelling out of the dream Leblanc's TV. "What were we…"

"Akira," Makoto asked, "are you alright?"

"I - I remembered," Akira said, "Shido… Shido was the one who got me arrested."

Everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to Akira, shocked.

"Wha - are you serious?!" Ryuji couldn't believe it.

"Akira…" Makoto was stunned by this revelation.

Sae was utterly livid. "This man… this man ruined your life… killed us… illegitimately took Japan… deleted a website… planned a TV special to discredit us…"

"He's planning a bunch of assassinations of world leaders who oppose him!" Futaba added, tapping away at her keyboard at lightspeed.

"What?!"

"There is truly no end to Shido's evil..." Fox murmured.

"We still have to stop him!" Morgana reminded them all. "Futaba. What was your plan?"

* * *

Shido Masayoshi would soon be on top of the world. He had achieved his first goal - Prime Minister. With the power to crush anyone who got in his way, he would very swiftly take Japan in the palm of his hand.

But first, Shido needed to crush the voices of those who opposed him. Despite their deaths, supporters of those wretched Phantom Thieves were still out there… And with the skills of his hackers removing influence on the internet, and the upcoming television special he had commissioned, the public would turn fully to his side, and those last flickering flames would be extinguished.

Then he would need to order the assassination of the world leaders who opposed him, and arrange for their replacement. Shido's ship would be ready to set sail within a few short months.

* * *

"Well," Futaba said, "judging by what we've seen of this dream world. You dreamed up everything, right? The entirety of Tokyo?"

"Should have."

"And we want to take Shido by surprise, right?" Futaba said, "so what if…"

Akira saw where she was going with this. He put on his killer scowl. "Don't tell me…"

"Yep yep! We'll do it there!"

"And that will be the calling card?" Ann surmised.

"Yeah," Futaba said, very pleased with herself, "it's going to be amazing!"

"WHOA!" Ryuji shouted, ecstatic.

"How ingenious!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"That sounds wonderful," Makoto said excitedly.

"Stylish!" Morgana agreed.

"It's going to be spectacular!" Haru went on.

Sae clapped her hands. "I've never done anything like this before. I'm elated at the prospect!"

* * *

 **Mishima:** The Phan-site… it got deleted! Someone deleted it!  
 **Hifumi:** What? The Phan-site? Deleted? Who would do such a thing?  
 **Shinya:** Whoa… how did that happen?  
 **Mishima:** I don't know!  
 **Kawakami:** That… that doesn't sound good.  
 **Yoshida:** I'm not familiar with this Phan-site…  
 **Mishima:** I was using it to tell people about the Phantom Thieves!  
 **Ohya:** Sounds like Shido's work.  
 **Iwai:** Shido again? What the hell is it with this guy?  
 **Ohya:** I dug up some dirt on him. I'm not sure what, or why, but he's planning lots of crazy shit. But I can't publish any of it because of my boss…  
 **Takemi:** Just publish it online. Isn't that what all the kids are doing nowadays?  
 **Ohya:** I. WOULD. LOSE. MY. JOB!  
 **Iwai:** Damn this Shido bastard…  
 **Hifumi:** If only there was anything we could do against him.

* * *

"But," Akira pointed out, "we still want to be the Phantom Thieves, right? So…"

"Yeah," Futaba said, "this is a dream world. You told us before -"

Akira recalled his rebellious spirit… the way he had that first time he'd taken a hold of lucid dreaming, eluding the officers who had come to arrest him in his dream.

 _There was a flash of blue, and his clothes changed to his Phantom suit._

"Whoa…" Ryuji looked at Joker, awed by the transformation. "So… we can dream our costumes too?"

"We can dream whatever we like," Morgana said. He was now in his Metaverse form. "We can dream even more here, in fact… this place is even more flexible than the cognitive world!"

"So that means…" Makoto said… and then she became Queen.

"Yes," Joker confirmed it with a knowing glance and a nod.

"Tomorrow, correct?" Ace asked eagerly, as she found herself wearing her hat and gown.

"Yeah," Panther said, "we have to time this right! We're going to take them all by surprise!"

"Hell yeah!" Skull yelled, thoroughly enthused. "Time for people to start comin' to their senses!"

"This will be amazing!" Noir said ecstatically. "I can't wait!"

"It had better be more aesthetically pleasing than that special," Fox opined.

"Oh, it will be. Let's not worry," Joker told him. "But Oracle - just one thing. How long will this be?"

"It can't be long," Oracle clarified, "I may be a master hacker, but I can only do so much. Our location will be untraceable, but any technician worth their salt will be able to disrupt the signal given enough time."

"All right," Joker said, "well, there's a song I'd like you to play…"

* * *

 ** _12/27/2016_**

 ** _Day of Broadcast_**

"Alright, everyone!" Joker said with as much pep as he could muster, "are you all ready?"

The Phantom Thieves all signaled in the positive. "Everyone's got their lines down except me," Mona said, and, seeming a little disappointed, asked, "why don't I have any lines again?"

"We can't have you speaking," Oracle reminded him, "the people won't be able to hear you like we can."

"Oh right," Mona remembered, "makes sense."

"To think," Ace wondered, "that we would choose this place. Surely they'll be utterly confused, unable to comprehend what's happening." She laughed. "What a tremendous idea…"

"Precisely," Queen agreed, "It'll be quite a wild goose chase."

"What an aesthetically pleasing backdrop as well," Fox mused, seeming delighted with the choice of location.

"It's time to fight back!" Panther said excitedly.

"Here we go!" Oracle shouted, and, tapping away on her laptop keyboard at lightspeed, pressed the ENTER key and hopped in front of the camera. "Going live in ten - exactly at the same time as that TV special. Joker, the song's ready too."

"And you did the rest of it too?"

"Yeah, I found all the file paths on their servers, and the code I wrote will take care of all of it! Don't worry!"

The camera beeped, and a red light flashed. Skull began speaking his first line as scripted…

 _"YO! What is UP, everybody!"_

* * *

 ** _Endnote from AO3:_** The next chapter will hopefully be up tomorrow, but I can't make any promises on that. I want it to be as damn good as it possibly can be - and trust me, it's going to be pretty epic! Lots of stuff is going to go down. It'll be fun. Or at least I'll try to make it fun.

I've been thinking about what I'll do with myself after this is done. I may write another P5 fanfiction, or put something original up elsewhere. I've got a lot of different ideas for things and such. I put a link to my tumblr on my [AO3 not FF] profile yesterday, and I'm trying to get back to updating it more frequently with some of my other writing stuff. Dunno if anyone's interested in that, but, if you all like my style, I'd appreciate a follow!

Thanks to all of you for your continued feedback, reading of my things and general moral support! :) Even if you're just lurking and don't comment or anything. It really means a lot to me that so many people are reading and enjoying this.

*this is striked out in the AO3 version. Wonder why FF doesn't have this as a formatting option.


	22. Dead Thieves Don't Send Calling Cards

**_Opening note:_** We've arrived at another very important moment! From here on, I will do a better job of proofreading. Enjoy!

* * *

 _"These are the Phantom Thieves. Who were these troubled teenagers? Why did they turn to the dark side? Follow along tonight as we tell you their story…"_

And thus, the broadcast was begun…

but it was ended just as swiftly.

* * *

 _"_ ** _YO!_ **_What is_ ** _UP_** _, everybody!"_ A smooth jazzy, stylized song began to play.

 _"We are the ones who you all know as the Phantom Thieves."_

 _"And all of us are ALIVE AND KICKIN' -"_

 _"Or we will be!"_ Oracle amended quickly.

Some sort of mischievous smiling cartoon catlike creature appeared on screen. In a strange, idiosyncratic, animation style, it opened its mouth to a ridiculous width, its crazed grin giving way to a blank black circle. Then it spun around, and reverted back to its original appearance.

* * *

As the unmistakable voice of Sakamoto Ryuji rang out to the world, Mishima Yuuki dropped the missing posters he was holding in shock. _They're… they're alive?! The Phantom Thieves…_

 _THE PHANTOM THIEVES!_

A huge grin began to creep its way across Mishima's face… and then he cheered. Running to the nearest trash can, he dumped out all the missing posters, then sent a text to the SPTDDS group chat.

 **Mishima:** Everyone! Turn on a TV if you're near one! This is HUGE! It's all over Shibuya too!  
 **Ohya:** Huge? What happened?  
 **Mishima:** They're back… THEY'RE BACK!

* * *

"They're back… ?" Ohya was suddenly extremely curious. Could it be… ? "LALA! Turn on the TV!"

"Sure thing," Lala said, switching the TV on from behind the bar.

 _"Or we will be!"_

"What?" Ohya was stunned. "They're still out there?! …"

"Huh," Lala mused, "I knew those kids had to be clever…"

 _"You might be wondering,"_ Joker called out, _"how we are still alive… and the answer to that is, we aren't. We are broadcasting this to you all from a world beyond!"_

The animated catlike creature bounced about, and its tail began shortening, as if it were a fuse on a time bomb.

Ohya jumped up and cheered. _"I KNEW THEY WEREN'T REALLY DEAD! YEAH!_ Lala! Forget that refill! I got myself a new cover story to write! _"_

* * *

 **Takemi:** Are you saying that…  
 **Mishima:** Just do it!

Skeptical, but curious, Takemi turned to a small mini-tv perched on her desk, and switched it on.

 _"Before we appropriate our next target… we would like to first borrow your time!"_ Panther announced. The catlike creature exploded into a myriad of colors surrounding a single word: _BANG!_ This ultimately gave way to about a dozen duplicates of the strange logo, which all bounced about on the screen. They merged back into one, and the animation looped over again.

"Akira…" Takemi gasped. And then she smiled brilliantly. "It seems my prescription worked after all."

* * *

Snazzy English lyrics began to smoothly break into the jazzy tune.

 ** _WHO AM I? AM I  
_ _NOT UNIQUE? MAYBE  
_ _I'M NOT HERE AT ALL!_**

 _"The truth of the matter,"_ Fox continued, _"is that our deaths were no accident, nor did we commit suicide. We were in fact murdered on the orders of one man - the same man who is responsible for every single instance of mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns!"_

Shinya had been playing Gun About in the arcade, when suddenly all the arcade games had stopped. They were no longer functioning properly, instead displaying the Phantom Thieves' message. Shinya's reaction to this malfunction, and the message it delivered, could only be described as pure astonishment.

 _"Whoa…_ they're not dead after all! They did it! They're getting back at the enemy!"

* * *

 ** _CAN WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE..._**

 _"That very same man,"_ Queen followed, _"was afraid that his crimes would be exposed, and arranged for us to be discredited by shifting the blame on us. Manipulating the police to cover up the incident, he furthermore had us eliminated with a convoluted assassination plot."_

 ** _WAKE UP, GET UP GET OUT THERE  
_** ** _RAISE YOUR VOICE AGAINST LIARS!_**

"An assassination plot, huh?" Iwai mused nonchalantly, watching from below. He had hastily locked up Untouchable and headed into Shibuya Square to watch the announcement. "So that was what that fight was about? Geez. These kids are really something."

* * *

 _"But,"_ Noir said, _"we were not so easily taken down. For the past week since reconvening, we have been working hard, planning our comeback from the dead and the glorious theft of this despicable man's heart."_

 ** _JUST IMAGINE YOU'RE OUT THERE  
_** ** _SWATTING LIES IN THE MAKING_**

Kawakami was absolutely dumbstruck… Could this be true? _Akira-kun… my god… you're alive! You passed that "exam…" but - oh, you troublemaker... Don't ever pull something like that again!_

She would have to tell him as much the next time she made him coffee or gave him a massage.

* * *

 ** _CAN'T MOVE FAST WITHOUT BREAKING…_**

 _"We only steal the hearts of criminals,"_ Skull told them all, _"but this asshole tried to dump what he did ON US! That just shows he doesn't care about those victims at all!"_

The English lyrics gave way to an interlude of erratic scatting vocals, backing up the continued jazzy tune.

"Akira…" Chihaya turned over her cards again. "Sun… Chariot… World? World again… why the World?" She looked over at the TV in the Shinjuku shop display. "Well… it doesn't matter… you changed your fate!" Regardless of whatever bizarre results her readings yielded, Chihaya was delighted by this turn of events.

 _"The identity of that deplorable, cowardly man is -"_ Ace began, but then the broadcast was cut out.

* * *

Sakura Sojiro was sitting alone in a small, cramped jail cell. He had been here for a little over a month, and the solitude - not to mention lack of coffee - was getting to him. There was no one to talk to except the guards, and occasionally some guy in a suit. He wondered what was happening to his store. Did they condemn it? Sell it off? Or…

Sojiro was interrupted from his train of thought as one such guy in a suit rushed over to his cell and yelled, "Sakura! What did you do?!"

"Me? Uh, nothing," Sojiro replied, bored, continuing to sit and stare at the wall, tossing a rubber ball to and fro. "Why do you ask?"

"How are the Phantom Thieves not dead? What did they do? What did you do to help them?!"

"Beats me," Sojiro said nonchalantly, "I thought they were dead too. We're in the same boat on that front, it seems."

"Don't play dumb with me!" The man reached inside the cell and grabbed Sojiro by the collar. "What did they do?!"

"I… I really haven't a clue." Sojiro was a little nervous now. "Look, do you have any proof that I did something after I was arrested? Or that I know anything? Or would know anything about avoiding death? All I did was let Kurusu Akira live under my roof."

The man thought for a second, huffed in anger, let Sojiro go and walked away. Sojiro wondered what that had been all about.

 _Not dead, huh?_

* * *

"Did they stop it?" Panther wondered, concerned, as the camera blinked off.

"Oracle, can you get it back up?" Joker asked. Oracle rushed over to her laptop and performed a few swift keystrokes.

"Ha, amateurs," she said, tapping away, "too bad… I WIN!"

With that, Oracle reassumed her position in front on the camera, and the live broadcast was reactivated.

* * *

 ** _THE FAKERS ARE ALL  
_** ** _SICK AT HEART_**

 _"The man behind it all,"_ Ace picked up, _"is a former cabinet member, of all things - the current Prime Minister of Japan"_ \- Shido's picture appeared on screen in place of the logo - _"Shido Masayoshi!"_

"Shido…" Yoshida murmured. "To think that a man of power would be responsible for such things… it's a shame that so many men would abuse such positions." He had been about to give a speech, but it had now been postponed, since no one was paying any attention to him at the moment. It didn't matter. _The Phantom Thieves seem to be making a more compelling case than I would have today._

 _"Shido got into power by way of a bogus election rigged by a twisted conspiracy,"_ Fox added.

 _"And everything he says is a lie!"_ Panther declared. _"To prove that -"_

In a bright and brilliant flash, Shido's picture gave way to live footage of the Phantom Thieves - in the flesh! (sort of)

 _"Look! As you can see, all of us all alive and kickin'! I'm sure the people who were investigating us can tell if this is a lie or not."_

 _"Shido himself will soon confess all the crimes that he's committed,"_ Noir told the audience. _"Please look forward to it, everyone!"_

 ** _WHO'S THE HIGH LORD  
_ _WHO THINK HE'S BETTER THAN US?  
_ _AIN'T IT A CRIME, THAT?  
_ _IS THERE A MISSION FOR US?_**

The picture of Shido from before reappeared, this time defaced with the strange animated creature biting his head and tagged with a rather unflattering message. The vandalised image pulled back to reveal Joker and Skull, standing side by side.

 _"We are not gonna sit back and let some crook wreck this country just cause of his goddamn ego!"_ shouted Skull as he mimed throwing away the picture offscreen. _"Ain't that right… Leader?"_

 ** _WHO IS THAT HIGH LORD  
_ _WHO'D KILL A MILLION OF US?  
_ _AND AS THE BELL TOLLS  
_ _IS THERE NO REMISSION FOR US?_**

The camera cut to a close-up on Joker's masked face, as he scowled brilliantly -

 ** _IF YOU LIVE YOU CANNOT STAY  
_** ** _WHY DOES NOBODY WANT CHANGE?_**

And then, the gallant thief shouted triumphantly -

 ** _TAKE THE MASK OFF AND BE FREE,  
_** ** _FIND YOURSELF IN THE DEBRIS…_**

 _"Yes. Before Shido Masayoshi takes this world in his hands, we will rise again from the dead - and TAKE BACK THIS COUNTRY!"_

 ** _WAKE UP, GET UP, GET OUT THERE  
_ _RAISE YOUR VOICE AGAINST LAIRS!  
_ _FEED YOUR ANGER LIKE FIRE,  
_ _WHY DOES NOBODY WANT CHANGE?_**

The camera pulled out to reveal all the Phantom Thieves once again. Panning across, it followed all nine of them as they leapt into the air high out of frame and promptly disappeared, to reveal behind them… The Diet Building.

The camera stood there for a moment, hovering on their location long enough that the viewers could comprehend precisely where this was being filmed - and the feed was then replaced by their iconic flaming top hat.

 ** _CAN'T MOVE FAST WITHOUT BREAKING  
_** ** _IF YOU HOLD ON, LIFE WON'T CHANGE!_**

And then with a deliberate, mischevious _whirrrr,_ almost as if taunting Shido and the entirety of Tokyo - the broadcast was ended.

* * *

"How… HOW CAN THIS BE?!" Shido Masayoshi shouted furiously. He stood up behind his desk, and, losing his temper, flung all of his belongings off of it. His accomplices haphazardly dodged the projectiles.

"They're not dead?! Wha - find out how this happened! Search Wakaba's research - and find a way to stop a change of heart! Do something! And Akechi - where did that useless brat go?! Find him at once!"

"But sir…" one of the men said, "you had Akechi-kun killed when he angered you - why would you want -"

"If these Phantom Thieves are alive, there is a chance that he may somehow have come back as well! I don't need to explain myself! JUST DO AS I ASK!"

"Y - Yes sir!" his subordinates all said, and they rushed off to fulfill Shido's demands.

"How did they… Those… those pests!" Shido was utterly livid. He couldn't kill the Phantom Thieves? They were somehow… in an afterlife of some sort, coming for him anyway - despite all his efforts? What ungodly powers did they have? It was almost as if they were cockroaches, who would never surrender, keep coming back to infest his place no matter what he did to eliminate them.

Shido was angry, frustrated - _fuming._ But even beyond that - he was terrified. He was terrified of the Phantom Thieves. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if his heart was changed… he would be ruined! His ship would crumble into the ocean! He would be prosecuted… he would go to prison… and he would never escape, never be able to earn back the trust of the public… never…

No, this would never do. He could not allow his heart to be changed. If the Phantom Thieves succeeded… Shido Masayoshi would never be able to save the world.

* * *

Hifumi, sitting alone in the church, watching a livestream of the Phantom Thieves' message on her phone, was absolutely awestruck.

"Akira… you beautiful thief…" she could hardly believe it. "You cheated…" The Shogi Queen was grinning from ear to ear, crying tears of joy. "I love you!"

* * *

"They're at the Diet Building - wha!" shouted the police sergeant. "How can this be?! We have to send someone there to arrest them at once!"

"But… what if they're really dead? And in this 'world beyond' that they mentioned?"

"That can't be! Dead thieves don't send calling cards! Or video messages! Or anything else for that matter - just go find them!"

Several Tokyo Police cars soon sped off from the police station to the Diet Building, their sirens squealing.

But it would be a fruitless quest…

* * *

 _"HAHAHAHAHA!"_ Noir cackled as the Phantom Thieves, standing in front of the dream world's Diet Building, listened to the police dispatch through Oracle's laptop. "They'll never find us!"

"An ingenious strategy to irk them and waste their time," Fox mused, smiling at their success.

"Oracle," Mona said, "you took care of all the data, right?"

"All the no-good stuff. Yeah, out with the trash!" Oracle confirmed, pumping her fist into the air.

"Great work, everyone!" Joker said. Once again, his friends had lived up to his expectations, and then some. "Now, we need to carry out the last steps of the plan."

"We sent the calling card, right?" Skull asked, "does that mean we can go into the Palace now?"

"No," Queen replied, "not yet. We have to wait for a response from Shido, so we know for certain that he got the message."

"Plus," Panther pointed out, "we need to go over what our plan is for after."

"Yeah," Ace reminded everyone, "so that I can -"

"Wait, what about you?" Oracle inquired, "I'm not sure I remember this."

"Right," Joker clarified, "You wouldn't know - Ace, Queen and I talked about it earlier. See, the plan here is…"

* * *

"What the hell?!" the technician yelled in disbelief, "The cut of the TV special… it's gone! It's been wiped!"

"What about the backups?" asked the manager.

"All gone! All the previous cuts… and the documents… the evidence from the police, sources, photos, all the media we used to create it… everything's been deleted! It's as if - !"

An intern rushed into the TV station control room, utterly panicked. "We got an email with a calling card! It says it's from the Phantom Thieves!"

* * *

Mishima was ecstatic. An emergency meeting of SPTDDS had been called to discuss the new developments. "The… the Phan-site!" he shouted in surprise. "It's back up! It seems like the Phantom Thieves put the Phan-site back up! Uh - 'courtesy of Alibaba…'"

"Who the hell is Alibaba?" Ohya wondered.

"Sounds like a cool name," Shinya mused.

"I… Oh, Akira mentioned… !" Mishima remembered a few months ago when the site had been taken down and put back up again with a message saying - _"is this proof enough?" He said it was someone called "Alibaba…"_

"I - I think Alibaba is an ally!" Mishima spat, frenzied, "clearly… someone who's really good at hacking!"

"Hacking, huh?" Iwai wondered. "Interesting. Tried that once… I never could wrap my head around all that code stuff…"

"To think that they would take on our Prime Minister… !" gasped Ohya.

"My students certainly have nerve…" agreed Kawakami, smiling, "and I am proud of what I taught them."

"It's incredible," Yoshida said, "how far our country's youth will go for the right cause. If only I were twenty years younger…"

"They're gonna win, right?" Hifumi said nervously. "I hope Akira succeeds in helping his friends win this one… just like he won against me."

"I think they will," Chihaya offered, hopefully. "The cards are turning unusual results - but they do look to be unmistakably in Akira's favor."

"Kid's tough," Iwai chuckled, "In all my time I ain't never seen anyone pull off anything like he did."

"Akira's strong," Takemi said proudly. "He really doesn't know the meaning of defeat. It always astonished me how much his immune system could handle…"

"They'll win!" Shinya cheered confidently. "They came back from the _dead_ \- they CAN'T not win!"

* * *

"They're not here!" shouted the utterly flabbergasted cop. "It - it doesn't make any sense!"

"They couldn't have gone far… !" yelled another, "Where did they get to…"

"Where were they to begin with?!"

"This is impossible!"

"Are they really not anywhere near here?"

Their walkie-talkies all buzzed.

 _"What the hell - our evidence on the Phantom Thieves - it's gone!"_

* * *

"All right!" Oracle declared, "VICTORY!"

"You got the Phan-site back up?!" Joker gaped, "but I thought you said that would be impossible!"

"I hacked the server that it was running off of," Oracle explained, "and dug up the old webpage files from the archives. Not too hard once I pinpointed the file location! It just took me all night is all, but it was so worth it. Helped that we can't sleep here anyways."

"Okay," Akira said, changing out of his Phantom Thief outfit to his regular clothes. Everyone else did likewise. "Well, I guess this mission was a success. Let's go back to Leblanc and await Shido's reaction!"

"Muhahahaha!" mewed Morgana happily, "I can't wait to see the look on his ugly face!"

"Ugly?" Yusuke wondered, amused. "As twisted as Shido is, I can't say he's particularly unpleasant to look at. I certainly wouldn't call him ugly."

"Never mind that," Haru countered, "such a discussion is irrelevant. We are supposed to steal this wicked man's heart, not debate the quality of his appearance."

"But, Futaba…" Ann asked with curiosity, changing the subject, "I was wondering - why weren't you in that TV special?"

"I was…" Futaba sighed, "but… I edited out all the stuff it said about me before I showed it to you all."

"Wha - how come?" Ryuji asked, seeming a little surprised.

"I… I was kind of embarrassed," Futaba explained weakly. "The picture they used… no one's taken any pictures of me in years. It was a really terrible picture."

"That was your only reason?" Makoto wondered, finding it odd. "It seems a little petty…"

"I knoooow," Futaba groaned, "but… whatever, it doesn't matter."

"We should just go back," Haru said, rather urgently, "so that we can monitor the news."

"I couldn't agree more," Sae assented, "this is very important. We must ensure that your plan worked. And Futaba-chan - you did a wonderful job." Sae smiled at them all. "In fact, that goes for all of you. You are all such remarkable young people. I'm proud to be helping your cause."

"Thank you, Sis," Makoto said, "for helping us…"

"Well, let's go then!" Morgana said eagerly. And with that, the Phantom Thieves all headed back to the center of the dream world.

* * *

 _"The notice put forth by these so-called Phantom Thieves is absolutely groundless. It is a wicked terrorist act, aimed at sabotaging my efforts to return order to this country, and should be condemned. What we need now, is a powerful, unyielding leader. I am willing to risk my life to fight them._

 _"To those who call themselves the Phantom Thieves - your actions are gravely serious crimes. You are rebelling against law and unnecessarily inciting alarm among the populace. However it is that you have duped the police into believing yourselves dead, you must turn yourselves into the authorities and apologize to the people of this proud nation."_

"Wow," Akira chuckled, "he really doesn't get it, does he?"

"'Apologize?'" Yusuke said derisively, "quite the funny joke."

"Looks like he's seen the calling card, anyway," Ryuji said, excited, "and he's probably totally freaking out. Let's do this!"

"Yes, let's go," Haru agreed. "For Father…"

As the team prepared themselves, Akira saw a familiar girl… A familiar girl in a blue dress.

How did he know her, he wondered. He felt like he had seen her before… _You do not know me yet by this name… and this face…_

Who was she?

Lavenza held up a small blue book and beckoned for him to come.

"Hang on a moment," Akira said to everyone.

Everyone looked a little uneasy at these words. "Is something wrong?" Makoto asked.

"It's alright," Akira said, reassuringly, "I just need to do something before we leave." Leaving behind his teammates, he got up and followed Lavenza downstairs and outside.

* * *

"Trickster," Lavenza called out, sweetly. She was obviously very proud of Akira, presumably because of all he had accomplished recently. The look in her eyes was one of utmost caring.

"I very genuinely commend you on having made it this far. You have nearly succeeded in your plan. But there is one more thing you must do before you depart from this place."

"What would that be?" Akira asked.

"There is another sort of calling card you must send," Lavenza answered, handing him the blue book. It was labeled _How to Conquer Demons_. A very ridiculous title that gave off the impression of being quite phony. The book that could have controlled his mind…

"You need to write that message for yourself in this facsimile of the malicious book," Lavenza explained, "so that you are conscious in the past of needing to 'die…' it is a specific sort of variation on what your friends have taken to entitling a 'calling card.'"

"I see," Akira replied, "so now that my plan has succeeded… almost… I need to tell myself…"

"Think of it like making the plan behind the times." Lavenza smiled. "Your past self won't quite understand, as you very well know. But this action will have a profound impact on your presence in your dream world - at this moment - it will provide us with the prerequisite conditions required to assist you from the future."

"So that our dream selves can travel to here from the real world, through the Velvet Room…"

"Yes. But the book cannot be taken back to reality, and as soon as you have finished, it will disappear. Please, do not forget to do this before you leave this world."

"Why didn't you just give me this before?"

"Because of… time-sensitive conditions," Lavenza replied, "you have to have received this now, and not earlier, not later. There is a certain order to how this is done. I don't properly understand myself - after all, you yourself made the plan." She laughed. "You wonderful Trickster…"

"When do I make the plan, though?" Akira asked, "I'm still slightly confused."

"You will know," Lavenza said, "when the time comes."

"That's like the most cliche thing to say _ever."_

"I do agree - it is. I'm afraid I can't tell you much else," Lavenza said apologetically. "I am sure you've surmised this much, but I come from your future. There are many things I cannot yet quite explain to you yet - lest the order be disrupted, and your lovely plan fail."

"I think I see…" Akira was quiet a moment. "But… who are you? When will I meet you again?"

"Very soon," Lavenza told him, "please be patient. I must go back for now."

"Okay…"

"Don't worry," the little girl said as she walked away and began to disappear into the ether of Akira's dream world. "Just follow the path laid by your future self, and you will have as good as already won this game. Godspeed, my Trickster."

The last thing Akira saw of Lavenza was love - a true, passionate love for Akira, coming from deep within her heart.

Why was she helping him? Because, he had told her as much. But, why didn't he send himself? And where did she come from? The Velvet Room, he supposed, but then in that case what about Caroline and Justine? Why did they not come instead? Akira didn't want to think too much about it… time travel stuff made his head hurt.

Well, it would be most important that he do as he was told. Doing his best to recall what the message in the past had said, Akira hurriedly opened the book and began to write…

 _Okay, I'll cut the bullshit this time. This book is supposed to help you conquer demons._

And then, he had an idea… right. There were a bunch of blank pages. Laughing at his own cleverness, he flipped ahead fifteen pages, and added, _Wow, you actually read all that?_

Keeping it as cryptic, and as witty, as possible - the way he was certain Lavenza, and his future self, would want it - Akira inscribed the message…

* * *

 _ **Edit note (6/12/2016):** _ Realized I made a dialogue/continuity error. From Shido's perspective, Akechi should be dead. I've amended the chapter to clarify that issue.


	23. Crippled Brain, Fighting In Vain

_**Opening note:**_ Real damn proud of this chapter. Lots of surprises and action! Hope you all enjoy it :D

* * *

Akira finished off the message to his past self, and rejoined the team inside.

"Come on, everyone," he said, "it's time to go!"

"Are we going back to the real world first?" Ryuji asked.

"No time," Joker replied. "We gotta get to Shido's Palace and steal that Treasure ASAP. Plus, the plan, remember? We still have to pull off that plan."

"Gotcha," Skull said.

"Let's get to it then!" Mona mewed urgently.

"First Treasure I'll have ever stolen," Ace said, pensively, "and quite possibly the last…"

"Going to miss it?" Panther asked, and Ace laughed.

"I don't think so. Once is probably enough…"

The team rushed back to the dream Diet Building and boarded the ship.

"We're here!" Queen said. "Now, off to the Representatives Chamber."

"Time to take his Treasure!" Mona mewed excitedly.

"Futaba," Joker said, straightening his crimson red gloves in anticipation, _"play the music!"_ And with that, the Phantom Thieves rushed into the entrance hall…

 ** _AND AS YOUR CRIPPLED BRAIN_**  
 ** _TRIES TO FIGHT IN VAIN_**  
 ** _YOUR EMPIRE WILL FALL  
_ _AAAAAAAAA - PART!_**

* * *

"Coroner! Where is the Phantom Thief's body?!" the police detective yelled at the coroner, frenzied. He had been ordered by the director to check with the forensics department and ensure that Kurusu Akira's remains were still around, and that there was nothing… unusual about them.

"Uhhh - the Phantom Thief? Oh right, Kurusu Akira- the suicide victim from last month. Uh, his body is being preserved for examination by, uh - I don't know who, actually. It's right this way." The coroner led the detective through the morgue, which was very untidy and filled with all kinds of oddly shaped autopsy instruments, hospital beds, and other such things.

"Number… Ah yes, chamber number thirty-six," the coroner said, opening up one of the cold chambers that were in use. "Yes, his body is right here. In fact, all the bodies of the Phantom Thieves are here - or, what remains of most of them, anyway. We would have disposed of them by now, but someone's paid us to keep them around… waste of space if you ask me."

The detective took a careful look at the corpse of Kurusu Akira, searching for any abnormalities. There was an empty bullet wound in the center of his head, the fragments of the projectile having been removed for evidence purposes. "Hmm… well, he seems dead all right," the detective said, scratching his chin in confusion. "And the others?"

"All about the same. Well, actually, the Sakura girl couldn't be recovered, save for a few scattered pieces of bone. And we had to keep the Takamaki and Okumura girls in large plastic bags. Not much to see there. They're in the freezer…" an unsettling grin slid onto the coroner's face. "It is a rather gruesome state, I must add. Would you like to see?"

"No, no," the detective replied hastily, "that's all right. I don't think I need to see anymore." He was going home to eat dinner soon, and was not interested in observing such severe dismemberment. "I'll just leave now, thanks. You've been a great help."

"Anytime," the coroner replied pleasantly. "I can send you the death certificates as well, if that would help any."

"You do that. I may very well need them later on." With that, the detective exited the building and leaned up against the wall outside, smoking a cigar. As he did so, the phone rang. "Yes, hello?" A deep, irritated voice issued a response.

 _"How are they still alive?"_

"Beats me. They seem to all be dead as doorknobs, going by what the coroner has to say. The bodies are all accounted for."

 _"Then how did they -"_

"I don't know. Maybe some kid actors or something were playing a prank just to rile people up."

 _"I find that hard to believe."_

"Or maybe there are more Phantom Thieves out there that didn't die. Or something."

The voice on the other end huffed in annoyance. _"Whatever… what about the police's deleted data? And this Sakura person? We no longer have any evidence against him. What do we do about him?"_

"I guess we let him go… if Shido gives the okay. And as for evidence, the SIU should still have some stuff on the case. Not enough to build a case against him, though. This 'Alibaba' did a hell of a number on our system."

 _"The police were very reckless to give their data to the media for the production of that ridiculous TV special,"_ the voice replied, _"we had best be careful from this point on."_

* * *

Shido Masayoshi paced back and forth restlessly throughout his office. His subordinates were frantically searching Isshiki Wakaba's notes for some clue about what to do regarding the Phantom Thieves. A couple of them were making and taking panicked phone calls. So far, they seemed to have found nothing useful whatsoever.

Isshiki's research was very erratically organized. It was quite irritating, how she had scrawled random notes here and there and everywhere, in the margins, out of the margins, some of them in odd places like the gutter, or post-it notes jammed into the binding. It was almost as if she had deliberately made it more difficult to navigate for Shido and his men.

Shido's anxiety grew by the minute, but he fought to keep it contained. He needed to keep a level head. Keep his temper controlled. Something which his personal therapist - whose advice Shido frequently disregarded - would advise him to do. This was not a time to disregard such advice. If he kept his heart steady… kept breathing… kept thinking straight. Perhaps he could resist the change of heart by his own strength.

No - that was a foolish conjecture. If the Phantom Thieves breached his cognitive world and stole his Treasure, no amount of level headed thinking would save him. He would be absolutely done for.

And if Akechi was alive… he knew Akechi absolutely hated him now, and, should he find his way into Shido's Palace, would probably tear it apart. But that's why Shido had the failsafe… right? He didn't quite understand how it worked, but it worked. If Akechi was alive… Shido wondered where he was now. What was he doing? What did he think of this development?

Wherever he was, the solution was simple. Either Akechi would cooperate with him, and enter his Palace to stop the Phantom Thieves - or Akechi would refuse to help him, and Shido would simply have to kill him again. Either way… be it by way of simple error, or some sort of a freak occurrence, the Phantom Thieves were not dead. This was almost certainly the fault of Akechi. He would have to pay the consequences for this failure.

* * *

Akechi Goro had gone back to the real world since his scuffle with the Phantom Thieves. He knew that Shido would come for him, so he had gone to his lonely apartment - which by some miracle, had not been cleaned out after his death - and packed up his most valuable possessions. His suitcase, and a few wads of cash.

Akechi did not have a driver's license, but he trusted his motor skills, and did not have time to consider any such legal details. He needed to hide, get away from Shido and the public eye. If the Phantom Thieves succeeded in changing his father's heart, his name would almost certainly come up, and the police would come looking for him. Akechi had no interest whatsoever in being incarcerated.

Perhaps, he could wait until the Ace Detective had been forgotten by the world, and acquire a new identity in the world. He could live a peaceful, average life. Forget about Shido. Forget about mental shutdowns, psychotic breakdowns, his Persona. Forget about the Phantom Thieves. He could start anew, and live the life he would have lived if only Shido had not ruined it.

It was certainly a lot better than his initial plan. Once Akechi had caused Shido's mental shutdown, his plan had been to end his own life as well. He had considered alternatives, but he felt there was nothing he deserved more after becoming such a monster that would murder their own parent.

But after the battle with the Phantom Thieves in Shido's Palace…

 _Why do you need to kill Shido to feel better?! That doesn't make any frickin' sense!_  
 _Akechi, you don't hate me… do you?  
What is the point in this?_

What Sae-san had said. It reminded him of something his mother had once told him. His mother and her bright blue eyes, long brown hair… her kind smile…

* * *

"What did you do to Akechi? He… He was your own son!" Fox yelled, as his voice echoed through the large, empty and lavishly decorated auditorium.

"I always had a feeling it was something like that…" Shido's Shadow mused, "before he told me, of course, and so insolently denounced me. I have an idea as to why he approached me… he was hoping to trap me, was he not? Ha. To think I would allow a child to get the better of me…"

Shadow Shido adjusted his glasses. "He was sharp, but in the end, he was just a kid. I was planning to dispose of him after I became prime minister."

"WHAT?!" Skull yelled furiously.

"But… it seemed he wanted to cut ties with me sooner… yet somehow he survived. You were foolish to let him go after all he did. Not that it matters… I'll find and deal with him eventually anyhow."

 _No wonder Akechi was so bitter,_ Akira thought angrily. _This man… to think he was regarded like this… I wonder. Did his mother really hate him as he said?_

* * *

 ** _2004_**

 ** _Akechi Fumiko:_** _Goro, I don't want you to live a life of suffering. I want you to follow your heart… to be free…_  
 _  
 **Goro:** But no one is free in the end… are they?_

 _ **Fumiko:** Perhaps not - but what is the point in debating the truth of our freedom? What is truth, in the end? How do you know, that the entire world is not lying to you?_

 ** _Goro:_ **_You find proof._

 ** _Fumiko:_ **_What if the "proof" is a lie?_

 ** _Goro:_** _Then… I don't know._

 ** _Fumiko:_** _Exactly… you don't know. You never know. You have to decide for yourself, what is true of you, true of this world…_

 ** _Goro:_ **_Then why can't you just stop -_

 ** _Fumiko:_** _Goro… I'm sorry. I can't. I can't believe in myself anymore… but you can. Please, don't let my age and pain wear down your youth. I love you, Goro._

* * *

Who was Akechi Goro, the boy wondered, beneath the mask? A villain? A hero? An average layman? Perhaps a true Ace Detective of Justice, one who would have defeated Shido Masayoshi were he not under the wretched man's thumb? Had he known Akira years earlier, would he have truly joined the Phantom Thieves - under vastly different circumstances?

There was no way to know. Part of Akechi didn't want to know. But he resented the world for making it impossible to discover himself. For forcing him to wear so many false masks.

 _Akechi-kun!_  
 _Akechi-kun, you're so funny_  
 _Here's some chocolate, Akechi-kun!_  
 _Akechi-kun! You total cutie!_  
 _Marry me, Akechi-kun!_  
 _Akechi-kun_  
 _Akechi-kun_  
 _Akechi-kun…  
 **Akechi-kun!**_

Akechi-kun this, Akechi-kun that. Akechi was utterly fed up with it. No one really thought he was funny, or cute, or wanted to marry him. They were all just mindless masses of people, following after his every word. Why, he wondered, did they continue to not think for themselves, to continue to blindly play into Shido's plan for the world, and force this mask upon him?

But more importantly, he wondered, why did he resent Akira and the Phantom Thieves for attempting to help him break away from that?

Because…

Because… no matter how hard he tried… Akechi could never stop resenting them, for being so good, so free, so true to themselves despite all that they faced - all things that he never could be to himself. And yet now, Akechi found himself rooting for them as they set out to pull off the theft of his terrible father's desires. He wanted them to succeed - to be the heroes that he could never be.

As reluctant as he was to do so, he couldn't help but hold the Phantom Thieves in his thoughts. Akechi hoped dearly that they would survive Shido's Palace, and take the Treasure - just as they had sworn to do.

 _Good luck, Akira._

* * *

Outside the Diet Building in the real world, a wide crowd of people yelled out in protest of the Phantom Thieves. All of them shrieking in confusion and anger. They simply could not accept that their Prime Minister was about to have his heart changed.

 _This doesn't make any sense,_ Mishima thought. _Why are they all against this? The comments on the Phan-site…_ A few were neutral, nervous reactions, a couple positive, but most of them…

 _how dare they accuse the prime minister!_  
 _the pthieves are gonna ruin everything!_  
 _Idk what to think abt this anymore_  
 _how r they not DEAD? ridic_  
 _Japan is going to shit  
SHIDO-SAN IS GOD_

"Ignore them," Hifumi said to Mishima, noticing him nervously checking the phone for comments. "We're not here to stare at our phones, Mishima-san. We're here to show our support for Akira." She smiled confidently. "Don't look so down - all these people will get what's so important about this game after he secures his victory."

"They'll all understand soon enough," Chihaya agreed, "that their fates are about to be changed for the better."

"If anyone can show them," Kawakami declared, proudly, "it's Akira and all those other troublemakers that take after him."

"These knuckleheads are gonna wake up," Iwai said encouragingly, "once Shido spills the beans, they'll get sense knocked into 'em."

"Yeah," Shinya cheered, "they're all gonna get really excited about it! It's gonna be great!"

"It may take a while, and a lot of convincing, but they'll see clearly what is right in the end," Yoshida promised.

"Yeah," Ohya added, "Don't worry, Mishima! The truth is gonna come out!"

Mishima smiled at everyone, and, with renewed enthusiasm, issued another cheer in favor of the Phantom Thieves. It was unwelcome in the crowd of Shido supporters, but, even in the face of opposition, he kept it up.

* * *

Shido was still standing in his office, awaiting results from his men. They were frantically searching Isshiki's research, not having found anything of value as of yet. He leaned against the window carefully, as if it were a vital, paper-thin support, looking out upon the city of Tokyo, and the country which he now ruled. The country which, if he failed, would soon be stolen from him by a disgusting, immature band of criminals.

Suddenly, the sound of his heartbeat was conspicuously amplified inside his mind. His vision was briefly tainted with a strange shade of reddish purple. "No… what?!" Shido gasped. "Was that - Are they winning? Did any of you find something?!"

"Not yet, sir!" one of them shouted. Then suddenly, someone's phone rang.

"Hello? Uh… what, yes! You found him?"

"What?" Shido turned his attention to the man on the phone. "Found who?"

* * *

Akechi was about to drive out of the apartment garage, but someone tapped on the window of the car he had stolen. Probably the owner of the vehicle. He wanted to ignore them, but he knew that they would probably chase him, or call the police. It was best to apologize and talk out of the situation.

Sighing, Akechi rolled down the window. "I apologize for borrowing the car, but -"

A bag was shoved over Akechi's head, blinding him, and he was forcibly and violently pulled out of the vehicle through the open window. "Wha - !" Akechi struggled against his captor, to no avail, as they restrained his limbs with rope and handcuffs, then threw him into a cramped, carpeted space. Probably a car trunk, judging by the looks of things.

As the cover was slammed shut, he heard an unidentified man say, "Yes, yes - Akechi Goro, we've found him. We'll bring him to Shido-san at once."

* * *

"You…" Shadow Shido said, suddenly coming to a realization… "You're more than just a member of the Phantom Thieves, aren't you?"

"That is so," Ace confirmed, "someone whose life you so cruelly tore apart, not too long ago -"

"For almost no reason whatsoever," Noir continued, "other than your insatiable god complex!"

"Ain't the first time you failed to finish him off!" Skull shouted.

"Oh yeah." Joker removed his mask, and the face of Kurusu Akira scowled at Shido obnoxiously. "Long time no see…"

Shido's Shadow looked puzzled. "I don't -"

"You took him to court," Queen said in disbelief, "yet still, you don't remember? You truly don't care about the fates of others."

"Could you be…" Shido gasped, "the one from back then?! … That damn brat who showed up and stood against me when I was with that woman!"

"That's right." Akira put back on his mask. "Yes… pardon the interruption… _sir,"_

* * *

 _"but we were here first."_

"The elevators!" Shido recalled suddenly, as Kurusu Akira's voice rang through his head, and his lackeys all stared at him like he was crazy.

"Sir -!"

"The Phantom Thieves! We shoved them out of the way at - the elevators!"

"We - I don't recall such a thing," the other man replied, "Shido-san, are you alright?"

"I - I -" Shido gasped and regained his composure. "I'm all right, thank you. Hurry up with that search!"

Were they getting to him? The Phantom Thieves… _damn them… I'll get them… I have to… crush them!_

"Shido-san, sir," said one of the men, "the car's arrived. Akechi-kun has been secured."

"Good. Bring him in at once!" Shido barked.

Within a few short moments, Akechi Goro, having been unceremoniously blindfolded and restrained, was brought before Shido. Several armed members of Shido's private security forced him into a chair, to which he was then tied, and removed the bag over his head. The formerly dead boy gasped for some fresh air.

"How rude of you, _Father,"_ Akechi spat, "to kill me in such a violent manner, and then welcome me back to the living with such a discourteous abduction!"

As he spoke, Akechi stressed the word "father" in a rather spiteful tone, knowing that Shido would detest his use of the word and taking the opportunity to rub it in for all it was worth. At this, Shido's jaw clenched, and his fists began shaking with fury.

"Akechi!" Shido yelled. "How did the Phantom Thieves survive?"

"I'm not obligated to tell you that," Akechi said defiantly. "I understand that I have been… what's the right way to put this… 'fired,' correct? I do not work for you anymore. I do not wish to inform you of their plans or current whereabouts. Besides, won't you kill me after you've used me, having gotten my assistance preventing your change of heart?"

"What?! Are you helping the Phantom Thieves?"

"By no means am I doing such a thing," Akechi responded, "I truly detest them, as I know you do as well."

"Then why will you not comply with my request for information?!"

"I do not wish to provide you assistance," Akechi explained, "nor do I wish to offer aid to the Phantom Thieves. But I see that it is pointless to stop them. I have already battled them, and they have beaten me. They are a far better team than you and I could have ever hoped to be. Whether you or I like it or not, they will change your heart. You had best give into that reality - Father!"

 ** _"STOP CALLING ME FATHER!"_ ** Shido screamed, throwing his desk at Akechi. But he dodged the hurl. His hands somehow free, Akechi swiftly disarmed the guards and knocked them unconscious. He then walked forth to the surprised Prime Minister and pointed one of the stolen guns at his head. The men flipping through Wakaba Isshiki's notebooks stopped, looked up in shock, and held their hands up, terrified.

Taking note of this, Akechi turned to Shido's men, not lifting the firearm from his father's face. "Oh, I didn't ask you to do anything," he told them pleasantly, "you may continue searching the cognitive psience research. Won't do you much good, however. Kurusu Akira and his teammates are much too clever, I assure you."

Still terrified, none of Shido's lackeys continued their investigation of the notebooks.

"Keep looking!" Shido yelled at them. "This inconvenience does not concern you. Do as I have asked!" The men obliged Shido's demands.

Akechi smiled and turned back to his illegitimate father. "I was going to kill you," he told him. "It was my intention to enter your Palace and trigger a mental shutdown."

Shido gasped. "You would do no such thing," he growled, "I have -"

"Yes, I understand," Akechi said calmly, "you manipulated your cognition especially in order to protect yourself from me, were I ever to attempt such a thing. I happened upon this security - my cognitive self." Akechi scowled. "But the Phantom Thieves, of all people, saved me from you…"

"What?!" Shido couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Saved - by the very enemy he was working against under my command?_ "I can't fathom why they would do such a thing!"

"To be honest," Akechi replied, laughing, "neither could I. I still don't quite understand it. I don't believe I ever truly will. But," he clicked the trigger of the gun into place, "I do have an idea."

"And… what might that be?"

"I think… that…" Akechi gently pressed the gun further to Shido's face, grinning like a madman. "I'll be going now."

And with that, Akechi's arm jerked upwards and fired. Shido instinctively shielded himself as the glass shattered and spilled all about the room. Akechi then leaped out of the window and disappeared.

Shido jumped to his feet and looked down out of the broken glass window. Akechi was gone. "DAMN IT!" Shido yelled, more frustrated than he had been in quite some time.

* * *

As Akechi fell to the Earth at lightspeed, time seemed to slow down. He quickly considered the events that had just now transpired. _Some father-son reunion,_ Akechi thought. It was truly a remarkable thing to have happened. And now, of course, he was plummeting to his death… His second death…

 _Of course not._ No. That was only what he wanted Shido to think. Though it quite surprised Akechi to realize such, Kurusu Akira's dry wit was surely rubbing off on him. He was smiling now, triumphantly, mischievously - like the great, daring hero he had never been and would never be.

Carefully telegraphing his movements as the sidewalk creeped ever closer, Akechi reached into his pocket for his smartphone… Which promptly fell out. Their falling speed almost matched, it was almost as if the device was floating in the air, waiting for him to retrieve it.

And then, a split second before Akechi Goro's grinning visage met that of the hard earth, he seized the phone…

And disappeared.

* * *

"I acknowledge…" Shadow Shido panted, breathlessly, "that I incriminated you on false charges. I did it to protect myself…" Shido's expression was truly downcast, yet dignified nonetheless in the guilt he expressed. "I'm so sorry for what I've done, Kurusu."

"Thanks," Akira said to Shido, kneeling down to meet his eyes and offering his hand. The defeated Shadow accepted the offer, and the two foes shook hands. "But," he went on, "that's not enough. You need to go back and atone for all that you've done - for the mental shutdowns; the murders you ordered; the corruption of your son…"

"My son…" Shido gasped, smiling a little. "Yes… that may be good. It feels as if it's been quite some time since I've felt sincerely apologetic." He chuckled. "I've been defeated… ha… haha… hahahaha…"

He shook his head in bemused disappointment.

* * *

"Damn Akechi…" Shido muttered, "he should have just listened…" Everything had gone wrong for the most powerful man in the country today. One problem after another. Phantom Thieves, Isshiki's difficult-to-read research, Akechi, and now…

"We think we figured it out!" one of Shido's accomplices shouted. "A medicine -"

"I don't know if we should do it," the researcher they had called cautioned. "It seems too risky!"

"What would it - _AGH!_ "

"SIR!"

The reddish-purple fuzz - far more vibrant and disorienting than before - tainted Shido's vision. A voice rang in his head. It sounded like himself… laughing… _What? Who are you… are you…_

 ** _Sincerely apologetic…_**

"No! Did they…" Shido collapsed suddenly, and began leaning on his desk for support, his body convulsing wildly. "succeed?!"

He turned to the researcher, desperate. "Can I… really kill the Phantom Thieves… if I take that?"

"According to Isshiki Wakaba's research…" the man, who was tall, average sized and wore a plain white coat, began to explain, "temporarily collapsing a Palace will take out anyone inside it as well. The abrupt nature of such a collapse means they will be unable to escape unless they are extremely lucky, but -"

"But what?!" Shido felt his other self's voice growing louder… louder… He needed to hurry up and take this… whatever this was…

"The only way to purposely erase a cognitive world," the researcher continued, "is by ceasing biological activity - which is what this pill will do. It will, in other words, temporarily kill you - there are great risks involved -"

"Anything will do! Give it to me!"

Shido snatched the bottle of pills from the doctor, and took the medicine at once -

"Now… they're done for…"

But as he started to fall… he sensed the voice of his other self become one with him… it spoke to him in his mind…

 ** _Cannot… forgive myself…_**

 _NO!_

And then Shido was out cold.

* * *

"I - I - I - ah!" Shido's Shadow disappeared in a pool of black fuzz. The ship suddenly started shaking beneath the feet of the Phantom Thieves…

"An explosion?!" Panther shouted, confused.

"B-but -" Queen looked up at the glowing wheel of the ship, then back at her teammates, shocked, "We - we haven't taken the treasure yet!"

The Palace walls again shook violently.

"How is this happening?!" Noir yelled.

"I - I don't know!" Oracle screamed. "It's - the Palace is crumbling!"

"Something must have happened to Shido in the real world!" Mona yowled.

"Could it be," Ace wondered, "that Shido is - doing something to himself to try and stop us?!"

"It doesn't matter!" Joker screamed, "forget the plan for now! We need to get the hell out of here!"

"Come on," Mona said, "let's grab the Treasure and run!"

Noir snatched the wheel, which shrank into a bite-sized version tiny enough to fit in her pocket - which is exactly what she did.

The team rushed out and looked to the exit - but the path out of the Representatives Chamber was blocked. Water was starting to flood in…

"GODDAMN IT!" Skull shouted, "other way, other way!" He turned and rushed back - but - there was no obvious -

"A door!" Oracle yelled, pointing at the pathway to which she was referring. Joker dashed towards the direction she had indicated, and the Phantom Thieves all rushed after him. Once inside, they found themselves in another hallway, and, frantically turned left into another passage watched over by a Shido statue. The team promptly turned into mice.

"What -" Fox stammered "- this is no time for this nonsense!"

"Don't pay it any mind," Queen squeaked, "just keep running as fast as you can, everyone!"

The mousy thieves scurried away, Noir dragging the Treasure along behind her with her mousy teeth. Water began to break into the corridor, and they all scampered away as fast as possible and turned to another pathway where they reverted back to their human forms.

"That door -" Joker panicked, "it - it's locked!"

"How are we -" Panther began, but Ace charged in front of them, running as fast as she could, her billowing black gown trailing behind her theatrically.

 ** _"JUNO!"_ ** Ace called out, tearing off her mask as she rushed the obstacle. Her Persona materialized, promptly bludgeoning the door and snapping it in two. It gave way to reveal a space in the rafters above the entrance hall - which the thieves found also flooded.

"We can't go that way either!" Panther shouted, panicking as the the team stopped just short of falling down into the water.

"WE ARE NOT GOING TO DIE LIKE THIS!" Mona mewed with indignant determination.

"A window!" Fox yelled, "I think we can -" but upon seeing the sight which greeted them from beyond said window, he stopped short and gasped. "No -"

"We're gonna die!" Oracle shrieked, terrified. "I don't know how to swim!"

The bow of the ship was turning upwards to the distorted Palace sky, sinking deeper and deeper into the depths of the country beneath them. "Wait," Queen said, pointing, "over there! there's a lifeboat!"

"Let's go!" Skull yelled. Joker nodded his assent. The Phantom Thieves ran to the next window, facing straight towards the bow and the attached lifeboats.

"We just gotta get there…" Skull said, hopefully, but the team knew it was fruitless. The ship was sinking… and their doom was fast approaching… too fast.

"It's too far." Fox's tone sounded truly defeated. "We can't…"

"No, but he can!" Joker realized. "Skull - you're the fastest of us all -"

"What?!" Panther asked, "it's too - what if -"

"I got this." Skull eyes centered upon the finish line as he cracked his knuckles, ready to roll.

"you - get… What did you say?" Panther's voice slowed and quieted to a whisper.

"Hang tight! I'll nab the boat!"

Joker nodded his approval. "Show us what you're made of, Skull!"

Skull dashed out the window, and up the tilting side of the ship.

"But," Mona wondered, "the plan, Joker, for Ace to -"

"I can swim." Ace told them. "I've had training. And my phone is waterproof. It should be -"

"Sis!" Queen cried, stunned. "What are you thinking? We can't let you -"

"I'll make it." Ace had a fierce, determined look on her face. "Joker - I will make it, won't I? You believe in me?"

Joker reciprocated Ace's determination with a trusting gaze. "You'll make it."

Ace smiled. "Very well." And then said, looking at her sister kindly, "Queen - Makoto, I will… see you soon."

"Sis… please - don't drown!" Queen looked very distraught, worried for Ace's safety.

Ace turned to the window, and made to leap. "Goodbye, all of you." She laughed warmly and dived into the waters below.

Meanwhile, Skull leaped over a vast separation of water, dodging a fiery explosion as he did so, and pulled the mechanisms which released the boat. The rest of the Thieves tumbled downwards towards the water, as the boat fell to their rescue. They all cheered, and hastily made their way into the vessel. Fox then activated the motor, and they sped off.

* * *

Ace swam away from the ship furiously, in the deep, bizarre pink waters which surrounded the drowned country. As she did so, she heard an explosion, and Ann's voice screaming Ryuji's name…

The cry worried her greatly. She hoped everyone would be okay… that everything would be fine.

Taking out her phone, Ace reached the designated exit point and navigated out of the crumbling world of the Palace.

* * *

"Sir… ?!"

Shido Masayoshi found himself coming to after a dreamless sleep… no longer hearing the voice of his other self… but his own voice. He had wanted to prevent… he had taken… he had tried to kill… he had killed.

Kill? Why would he do such a thing… his own true voice told him that he would never… never kill a soul. He was too… kind. He was too honest. What had been wrong with him all these years? It was as if… he had been freed. As if his mind had been cleared. He could finally understand…

"What… have I… done?" he gasped. Taking a look around him in his office… research papers everywhere… a broken window… several men, some in suits, some in white research lab coats… they all looked rather baffled by Shido's odd behavior.

"Is the medicine still affecting you?"

"Medicine… ?"

That's right… the medicine. Shido had taken the medicine. Tried to kill the Phantom Thieves… he stared forward at the wall in front of him. Why would he kill the Phantom Thieves? They were simply children… teenagers… hadn't he been making all these speeches about how children were the future of Japan? Why would Shido Masayoshi, such a kind, honest man, kill children…

The men said more words, but he barely heard them...

 _… to a hospital… ?  
_ _should… wait and see… longer…_

Then he remembered… right. Shido had… he had… he had not believed his own words… He had betrayed his image. He had betrayed Japan. Betrayed the future generation… betrayed his own true self. The self that the Phantom Thieves, he now saw, had awakened him to.

"I - I…"

Shido buried his face in his hand and began sobbing.

"I must… atone…"

"NO - Was his heart changed?!"

Shido's accomplices continued frantically discussing the situation in panicked voices, but he paid them no attention. He couldn't stop thinking about all he had done… the lives he had destroyed… and… Kurusu Akira… the boy who he had incriminated in the bogus assault case.

Why, Shido wondered, did Kurusu stand out in particular, amongst all those others? Hundreds of other names and faces that he didn't even know…

* * *

"Sojiro?!" Futaba cried. "Where…"

"He got arrested…" Akira reminded her sadly.

"I know… I just thought…"

Leblanc had been completely cleaned out. It had been locked as well - it was only because of the spare key that Sojiro had long ago given Akira that he and Futaba were able to get in. Sounds of movement could be heard from upstairs.

"There's someone in the attic…" Akira realized.

"What?!" Futaba shouted. They rushed upstairs to find -

Mishima Yuuki, of all people, was sitting in Akira's empty attic room with… everyone. Hifumi, Takemi, Kawakami, all of them… all Akira's confidants. And… Sojiro!

"Hey," Akira's guardian said, grinning at him and Futaba, "you two are back!"

"You…" Akira gaped at them. "You're all here."

"We all banded together once you disappeared…" Kawakami explained. "It was Mishima's idea. He came to me after class one day. He knew you couldn't be really dead… and after that it just took us a few afternoons of internet searching and asking around."

"All of your friends," Sojiro said, smiling at Akira proudly, "all working together to try and find you. I would never have thought…"

"You were… arrested, right?" Akira asked. Sojiro nodded. "How… did you get out?"

"They just told me they had nothing on me and I could go home," Sojiro recalled. "Because of Shido's change of heart, right?"

"Must be." Akira shrugged. "I wouldn't know for sure."

"Ha, guess so. They took everything away, though… kinda sucks that now I have to buy an entire shop's worth of coffee beans and curry powder again." Sojiro shook his head in disappointment. "But, you're back from the dead, right? That's good enough for now."

"Well," Mishima said, enthusiastically, "it looks like there's some sort of press conference about Shido that's been suddenly scheduled for tomorrow. We should get together and watch it!"

"And in the meantime," Kawakami added, "You missed your exams. You and I have a lot of catching up and explaining to do… as do all of your friends. Well, except for Niijima-san…" His teacher shook her head regretfully.

"They've removed her name from all the student achievement records, so that's probably a lost cause by now. But everyone else, I've cooked up a… good enough cover story. No one knows what really happened while all of you were 'dead.' Nevertheless, you should all lay low for a while."

"Got it," Akira confirmed.

"And," Mishima said eagerly, "you have to tell us all about your afterlife trip!"

"I was going to do that anyway."

"And we have to have that rematch!" Hifumi reminded him.

"Tell me all about how the fight went down," Iwai added.

"I need to test your blood," Takemi said, cracking a small, slightly crazed smile, "I want to examine you for any physiological abnormalities following your return from death."

"And your speech!" Yoshida noted, "I want to hear all about how you won over this important person."

"I wrote the cover story!" Ohya declared excitedly. "Come down to Crossroads when you can and I'll show it to you before it hits the presses!"

"I wanna teach you a couple more moves!" Shinya said brightly. "I learned a few new ones while you were away."

"Your cards have been turning up some odd results," Chihaya informed him, smiling "please come by when you can so I can tell you about your new fate!"

"I'll come talk to all of you as soon as I can," Akira promised his confidants, beaming proudly at them. "Thank you all for working together to find me."

* * *

"Akira. It's been quite a while, since we last spoke like this."

Akechi entered Leblanc - the fully stocked Leblanc. He was wearing his Crow outfit. He looked rather sad, yet still very angry. But perhaps not at Akira. It could not be certain at whom he felt contempt.

"Akechi. What are you doing here?" Akira observed that he was wearing his Joker costume - perhaps just because he was so accustomed to it when Akechi came by.

"I came to speak with you," Akechi said slowly, taking a seat. He quietly made a cup of coffee materialize, rather than asking Akira to brew some for him. "I must congratulate you… on having succeeded, in changing Shido's heart. It is a strange thing to say, but I am somewhat glad that you and your friends have prevailed on your end of things. But I cannot deny you've also robbed me of something as well in doing so. I… I feel quite lost."

"How so?" Akira asked, skeptically. He was unsure whether Akechi's sentiments were an act or not. There was clearly still some pent-up hostility residing within him.

"Well," Akechi replied, "I still don't understand why it is that you and your friends saved me and let me go. I'm a villain, after all. Your enemy. Your murderer." He took a sip of his coffee - seeming to genuinely enjoy it this time, not doing so to appear clever, or silently spite Akira, as he had previously done.

"I'm truly evil, Akira. You're a wonderful hero. I'm a terrible criminal. Why would you let me go?"

"Well, Akechi," Akira asked, "if you're our enemy, why didn't you come to stop us from changing Shido's heart?"

 _Sip._ "Because there was no point," Akechi answered, simply. "You defeated me, did you not? I knew you would have little trouble doing so again, defeating my father, and stealing his Treasure."

Akira narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Is there more to it than that?"

"Because you were my friend."

"So why didn't you help us?"

"Because you were my enemy."

"So…" Akira shook his head in confusion. "Which is it?"

"Both… and neither." Akechi chuckled a little. "Akira, it's rather complicated. I would like to be your friend. I would like to say that I would not have killed you - had I had the choice. But I can't. Those are things that some other me would say, the me that met you a good few years ago. I'm a murderer, Akira. I've always been a murderer. I will always be one. I can't be much else than that."

"But, Akechi," Akira said, "you were being controlled… ordered… by Shido… you don't have to kill more people! His heart changed! He'll never make you kill again!"

"Precisely," Akechi said, "which is exactly why I feel a strange sense of… purposelessness. I no longer have anyone to follow after, or any goal in mind, now that you have at last thwarted my plan to exact revenge upon my father."

 _Sip._ "And, I never said I was going to kill more people, Akira. I have no intention of doing such a thing. I'm not the type to go on some senseless murder spree, you know."

"I - I see that…"

"But, at the same time, I just don't think I can escape this status. My mother once told me that the truth is what I decide. I am incapable of deciding otherwise in this case."

"But all you have to do is just tell yourself that you're good. You are good, Akechi, deep down, I know you're -"

Akechi snarled, threw his coffee cup to the floor, and he transformed into the black mask. Akira stopped speaking and nervously glared at the teenage assassin.

"I'm not 'good,'" Akechi told Akira firmly. "I'm never going to be 'good.'"

After a moment of deliberation, Akechi's attire changed to his normal, real world clothes - that of the Detective Prince. He turned to leave, his temperament softening somewhat. But then he stopped, and turned his head ever so slightly. "I planned to end my own life after I had killed Shido," he confessed quietly.

Akira's jaw dropped in shock. "Wha - ?"

"But," Akechi went on, "I don't think it would make you happy, Akira. I also don't think that's what my mother would want."

"But you said she hated you…"

"She may have hated me," Akechi returned coldly, "or she may have loved me. There is no way of ever knowing, and quite frankly it's irrelevant how she regarded me. But either way, I do not believe she would wish me dead. She was not the sort of person who wished misfortune upon others, no matter how much she hated them."

Akechi opened the door to Leblanc and motioned to exit. "My mother was a truly admirable woman of commendable character. I do wish she had not wasted her life conceiving me, never fallen into such a deep alcohol-fueled depression. Had she not done so, I am certain she'd be leading a very pleasant existence right now. Okumura and Isshiki would be alive, and I would have never existed. Akira - wouldn't you very much prefer that, as opposed to the current state of affairs?"

Akira could not bring himself to answer that question. _If Akechi was never born… would I really wish such a thing? I… I don't know._

Akira quite liked Akechi, he had to admit. He did appreciate their time together. Their conversations. Akechi was correct - it was truly a shame that they had to be at such odds. But…

"You can't answer that?" Akechi sighed. "I suppose that would be a difficult question for you, considering that you and your teammates saved my life and encouraged my escape. Clearly, you all feel something for me… despite all I have done to you."

His hand on the doorknob, he pulled the door nearly closed, then looked back to speak one last time.

"Goodbye, Akira. I won't be seeing you again."

And with that, Akechi shut the door to the shop, and disappeared from view.

* * *

 _ **End note:**_ I spent ages on this chapter, and I'm super happy with it. I've come back to developing Akechi again, after my sort of messy attempt in the discarded continuity from before. Trying hard to make sure I don't make him all good or anything. I kind of want to walk a fine line with him and make sure that, even as he's still a bad guy and all, we understand his motives and can relate to him. Most important thing is that he never apologizes. The instant he says "I'm sorry," I'm going too far.

I'd like to give special thanks to Super_Big_Mac, a reader of this story who commented a correction about my sentence structure and subsequently became my editor after we established communications through Twitter. He read an early version of this chapter and provided some feedback on the writing which in particular gave clarity to my interpretation of Akechi, helped flesh out a few scenes, and spotted a couple typos in this chapter for me which was great. He's a really nice dude to chat with about P5 and story stuff, and is generally very helpful and cool.

And thanks to all of you for reading! I figure some of you might be sick of reading that by now, but you are all the most important parts of this story, and I will never stop saying saying as much. I hope you all keep reading, and keep leaving your comments!


	24. Blood and Bureaucracy

**_Opening note:_** _This chapter is a good bit more than 10k works and took a lot of effort. Definitely way more rereading and double-checking than any past chapters. Anyway, I like the way it turned out, so I hope you all really enjoy this!_

* * *

Niijima Sae—who minutes ago had been the eldest Phantom Thief Ace—reappeared in reality, finding herself in a rather strange condition. Her prosecutor outfit was all scuffed up and dirty, and her red nail polish was fading, caked with dirt and crud. Her hair… her silver hair was now not so silver.

Sae's hair was not naturally silver; she preferred to dye it. Her natural hair color was, in fact, bright red - almost the same color as her baby sister's bright crimson eyes. But that didn't go with her work outfit. When the two were put together, Sae felt that it made her look like some sort of a clown. She didn't always do the best job of it, and sometimes the red leaked through anyway.

Sae found it rather embarrassing that her appearance was in such a condition, but, it hardly mattered. She had no time to polish herself, and if she did so, it would likely affect the plan. With that, she stood up and observed her surroundings.

She was deep in the heart of Tokyo, across the street from the SIU offices. The night was deep black, nearly as black as her clothes, and people were staring at her… Sae heard some voices muttering.

 _Who is that woman…_  
 _Haven't we seen her on TV?_  
 _I think something happened with—_  
 _What an odd place to find someone lying down._  
 _The prosecutor?! The one working her sister's case?_  
 _Did she have something to do with the Phantom Thieves?_

She ignored them. She put her hands in her pockets and checked for the key item. It was there, which bade well for the mission. She'd never taken anything out of another world before, so she hadn't been certain that it would work.

Entering the SIU headquarters, she subtly and confidently walked past the men in black suits. Shido's agents. Or, his former agents, now that he almost certainly would not be interested in heading this conspiracy. The men who almost certainly wanted her baby sister either imprisoned or dead again.

Of course, she wasn't about to let that happen. Sae approached the front desk. "Excuse me," she said to the bored receptionist, "but I need to speak with the director."

"The director—" the man looked up tiredly. "Oh, uh… you look familiar—"

"My name is Niijima Sae," she went on, "I used to work here as a prosecutor, before I was… I believe, kidnapped by way of some sort of bizarre phenomenon enacted by the Phantom Thieves… I understand I am believed to be dead. I need to clear up this misunderstanding…"

"I see… yes. I remember you, Niijima-san." The receptionist flipped through a folder for a moment, read something, and then picked up the phone. He dialed away, and after a moment, said, "yes… sir? Niijima-san… I have no idea how… at least, she looks like Niijima, talks like, walks like…"

The receptionist listened for a moment as the voice on the other end yelled something in reply.

"Yes, sir—she claims she was kidnapped, somehow. I don't understand it…"

More yells. Then silence. Then a quiet huff.

The line went dead, and the receptionist replaced the phone onto the receiver.

"He'll be with you shortly. I'll have someone escort you upstairs to his office."

* * *

"Why can't we go after the Phantom Thieves?!" shouted Kaneto Masaji, one of Shido's former accomplices, into the phone. "Yes, the evidence was deleted, but we don't need evidence, we can make up whatever evidence we damn well like! And what about those Niijima and Okumura girls?! Their cases were public knowledge!"

 _"We can't declare dead people 'wanted.'"_ The voice was crisp, calm, and coolly collected in a way that very much aggravated Kaneto. How could this man act so nonchalant in the face of such a crisis? It was unbelievable…

 _"There is no precedent for people—not missing people, mind you, who were simply declared legally deceased in absentia—but people whose corpses we have found and identified as dead, somehow returning to life. Most of the police force have resigned themselves to the belief that no 'resurrection' has occurred, but that some new group of individuals has taken it upon themselves to assume the positions of the Phantom Thieves."_

"But we had Akechi-kun! Shido-san's security—"

 _"Yes, Shido sent his private security, whom he paid, to capture Akechi Goro. Not anyone from the police, or the Security Police supposedly charged with protecting him—but his own personal paid security. And since those men are not from Japan law enforcement, and the events which they would describe are considered fantastically implausible, it would take quite a lot for them, and a lot of time and paperwork, to convince the police of anything. We would need to recapture Akechi, or better yet, one of the supposed living Phantom Thieves…_

 _"And even so, capturing them may prove a problem. Even if we are to believe that these individuals have returned from the dead, what conditions would such a process engender? It maybe that they have returned 'stronger,' or that they have gained immortality, or immunity against conventional methods of arrest or injury. If they were to be apprehended, perhaps they could use such powers to obliterate any assailants. If they were arrested, they may have some sort of method of 'teleporting' and respawning themselves elsewhere. If they were killed, perhaps they would simply come back to life again…"_

"So why can't we just find out?!"

The voice sighed impatiently, sounding agitated at not being understood. _"This is a bureaucracy, my good sir."_

"Shido-san _was_ the bureaucracy! Wouldn't he—"

 _ **"Shido-san** is indisposed,"_ came the curt, thoroughly annoyed response, _"and before his 'change of heart,' gave no such directions. You have not yet assigned a leader to replace him. This country has no leader, and nor does your little conspiracy. Until you dimwitted dunderheads get your shit together, you have no authority to be giving any orders. Do call me again once you've resolved all your unfortunate woes. Goodbye."_

There was a deep _click_ and a dial-tone as the man hung up.

"DAMMIT!" shouted Kaneto, yelling out the window which Akechi had broken. There was no response other than a cool breeze. He was the only one remaining in the office, everyone else having gotten sick of this nonsense and gone home.

Shido's office was utterly trashed. A desk having been thrown, a window having been broken and jumped out of, and Isshiki Wakaba's research papers all strewn about everywhere.

As ordered, Shido had been transported to the hospital straightaway, and the incident covered up, but now they had no backbone. No backbone, and no clue what to do. Whether the originals reborn, or an entirely new group, the Phantom Thieves had almost certainly toppled Shido's empire. How would all of Shido's customers and collaborators escape the rubble?

* * *

"Hehehehehe!" Futaba cackled, as she listened in on the man's call from her laptop, which had been freshly extracted from the dream world. All of Akira's confidants were still there (except Shinya, who had been picked up and taken home by his mom, and Yoshida who had left to get a good night's sleep before resuming his campaign).

 _"This is a bureaucracy, my good sir."_

"Sooo…" Mishima said, puzzled, "they can't catch you?"

"Not right now!" Futaba confirmed, "I've hacked 'em all down to the bone enough that they're in a perfect critical state of total _OMGWTF!"_

"Whoa!" Mishima was stunned. "So… so you're Alibaba? _The Alibaba?!"_

"The one and only!" Futaba was very pleased at Mishima's recognition of her.

"That's so cool!" Mishima asked, "So you're the Phantom Thieves' hacker? How'd you pull off taking down my site by the way, way back in July? And putting it back up earlier! That was incredible!"

"Too hard to explain to a noob," Futaba said simply with a slight impatience in her voice.

Mishima was too delighted at meeting the righteous hacker of the Phantom Thieves to take any offense at being called a noob. "Oh man, so it's secret? That makes it even cooler!"

"Anyway - I can't keep these guys down forever. Eventually they're going to get their heads in the game and send someone after us. Which is why, Akira… wait, Akira?"

 _ZZZZZZZZZ…_ Akira murmured something about "hated" and "good."

"He snores loudly," Takemi noted. "Is that normal?"

"I dunno," Futaba replied, shrugging, "ask Makoto. Anyhoo…"

"Hey, what if the feds bugged this place?" Iwai wondered. "I took a check around here myself when we started working here, but I couldn't find any… yet I still got a funny feelin' I'm being watched."

"Heh, no way," Sojiro chuckled proudly, "not the cops. That's our Ali-Baby's job."

"It's _Alibaba!"_ Futaba corrected him, then added, "but yeah, I've already got the place under my own surveillance. I would notice if someone added their own bugs, or tampered with my own."

"What point is there in bugging your own home?" Hifumi wondered aloud, "don't you—"

"I don't live here," Futaba clarified. "Akira does. I live in a house down the street. Or I did, but it burned down. With me inside. Y'know, it's kinda hardcore if you think about it."

"I see…" Kawakami murmured, "but isn't that an invasion of privacy?"

"Eh, I guess," Futaba shrugged. "But no one seems to mind."

"I never said I didn't mind!" Sojiro said.

"Uh, boss," Takemi inquired earnestly, changing the subject, "when are you opening this place up again?"

"Oh god I don't know," Sojiro groaned. "Somehow, these two crazy kids got me to agree to their wild plan. That could take a damn long while. And I still don't have any coffee beans or curry powder, since Shido's lapdogs apparently cleared this place out."

"That's a shame," Takemi lamented sadly, "I wanted to—"

"Oh, the coffee stuff?" Kawakami spoke up, "No one took it away. I threw it out."

"You what?!" Sojiro looked terribly surprised and annoyed. "Why'd you do that?"

"I cleaned the place up the day before the first SPTDDS meeting," Kawakami explained. "I wore my maid outfit and everything! Since all the coffee and curry was spoiled, and there were mice and cockroaches crawling all over it, I threw it away."

"What about all my dishes?!"

"I took them home and cleaned them there. I can bring them back anytime. Sorry if I shouldn't have—"

"Oh no," Sojiro told the teacher, "It's fine. Thanks. I'll let you know when I want 'em back."

"Whoa, Kawakami-sensei…" Mishima seemed awed. "I never knew you were that dedicated! And here I was assuming the cops took everything…"

Kawakami shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal. I just got really tired afterwards…"

"That's excellent news," Takemi said, pleased. "In that case, once the store reopens I must get Ohya-san a quality drink sometime…"

She gave Ohya a disapproving look. The oft-intoxicated reporter held up her hands indignantly. "Whaaaat?! Come on! I'm a responsible consumer!"

"That's not what your blood tests tell me. You are anything but responsible when it comes to your drinking habits."

"Well then," Ohya said, fuming, "I'll just have to—"

"Okay, come now," Chihaya said kindly, slipping into her native dialect, "yer all actin' like damn fool hooligans! Er, I mean—" she reverted to her normal voice "—please don't squabble over something so frivolous…"

"Wasn't I the one doing this before… ?" Hifumi said curiously. "Anyway, I should go home… my mother is waiting for me. I really wasn't supposed to be out this late."

"Yeah, me too," Iwai agreed. "Got business to take care of."

"Might be best for you to all leave anyhow," Futaba informed them, tapping away at her laptop furiously. "I'm hacking into the SIU now. Lot of firewalls and whatnot to break through…"

"Good luck, Alibaba!" Mishima cheered. With that, Akira's confidants swiftly exited Leblanc, and left the grinning child prodigy alone to complete her electronic thefts.

"Hehehe, it's almost time…"

* * *

 _ **12/15/2016**_

 _ **Niijima Sae, in her last moments of life, is holding a gun to Akechi Goro's head, trying to protect her baby sister. Should it prove necessary, she is prepared to kill Akechi to defend the both of them…**_

 _ **Sae:** WHO IS YOUR EMPLOYER?!_

 _ **Akechi:** Ah, well, you know, this is somewhat convenient actually. I can set this up to look like you two lashed out at each other._

 _ **Makoto:** You — You would do such a thing?! Answer my sister's question!_

 _ **Akechi:** Ah, very well, if you insist… you'll be dead soon enough anyway. My employer is Shido Masayoshi._

 _ **Sae:** Shido?! … the man in the running for Prime Minister… he… … … I see… the mental shutdown incidents… a conspiracy to get himself elected! What on Earth…_

 _ **Makoto:** A man like that soon coming into power… What have we done… Akira?!_

 _ **Akechi:** Neither of you will ever live to tell the truth, naturally._

 _ **Akechi's hands moving faster than Sae's eyes can follow, he withdraws a second pistol and shoots her dead…**_

 _ **Sae falls clumsily, and reflects a moment on the unfortunate occurence of her death.**_

 _Makoto…_

 _I couldn't save Makoto…_

 _How am I still thinking? Is this…_

 _Am I a ghost?_

 _ **Niijima Sae, as her dream self, looks down at her corpse and gains her bearings…**_

 _ **Makoto:** _ GOD DAMN YOU!

 _ **Akechi kills Makoto and sets about rearranging their bodies.**_

 _ **Distressed by the sight, Sae leaves the scene behind her…**_

* * *

"Niijima!" shouted the SIU director—the replacement SIU director, seeing as the previous one had been killed by Akechi. Akira had seen it happen, and since told the others about it. "You're telling me—are you the real Niijima? The one that died?"

"I believe so," Sae replied simply, with a controlled hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Well, if the Phantom Thieves are alive, then perhaps—" the director shook his head in frustration. "Were you in fact killed by your sister?"

"I don't think so… the last thing I remember is coming home with her from the courthouse for her hearing, and then someone knocked me unconscious… the next thing I knew, I woke up outside here. I'm as confused as as you are…"

"We found your body! You should be dead—" the director thought it over a moment. "I don't have time for this! We'll need to have you in another time to ask you some questions—"

Right about now, Sae thought, her right hand tucked away, grasping the device in her pocket.

* * *

 _ **12/20/2016**_

 _ **Sae enters the SIU offices…**_

 _ **The director is speaking on the phone to someone.**_

 _ **Director:** Yes… yes, it seems like the plan has worked._

 _ **Director:** No, we haven't released their names to the media. Only the police. Although there is evidently some sort of discussion about a "television special…"_

 _ **Director:** I understand, sir. We are well aware that all of us here, and our reputations, will be personally ruined if anything goes wrong. We will all try our best._

 _ **Sae listens intently. No one sees her.**_

 _ **Sae:** So… Shido had the entire SIU under his thumb the whole time…_

 _ **Sae walks over to the computer and makes to type discreetly… but her hands phase through the keyboard.**_

 _ **Sae:** I can't… all right then. In that case…_

* * *

The director's phone chimed, and he answered it. He seemed rather irritated at being interrupted.

"Hello… yes… what?! What happened? The… how could that be?!" Sae smiled slightly.

"Good grief…" he said, thoroughly exasperated. "Niijima, wait here. I need to go take care of a problem!"

The director exited the room swiftly, and rushed downstairs. So far so good.

Sae approached the director's desk and wasted no time plugging in the "key item…"

* * *

 _ **In front of the dream Diet Building… the broadcast has been completed.**_

 _ **Oracle:** Wait, what about you? I'm not sure I remember this._

 _ **Joker:** Right, you wouldn't know—Ace, Queen and I talked about it earlier. See, the plan here is, basically—Ace gets to steal some shit!_

 _ **Panther:** Were you paying attention last night, Oracle?_

 _ **Oracle:** I was really busy hacking into the TV station!_

 _ **Ace:** Specifically, stealing some intel. The SIU is working with Shido. I heard the director speak on the phone about us. He talked about some "others" who were in on his conspiracy to weaponize the cognitive psience research. It's possible that, when we change Shido's heart, these others may come after us._

 _ **Queen:** Which means that we'll have to take them down as well. Ace will need to split with us and exit the Palace at the physical point which geographically correlates with the real world SIU's location, and…_

* * *

Ace unplugged the key item and tucked it back inside her pocket. The theft had been a success. Smiling mischievously, she turned and quickly moved away from the desk. Not too soon after, the SIU director reentered his office, looking extremely vexed and confused.

"Niijima—there seem to have been some unfortunate… complications. We shall have to continue this discussion another time. Please leave at once!"

Sae nodded. "That's fine. I've got exactly what I need."

She turned away and left, extremely pleased with herself. Sae was certain that the execution had been flawless, and the director appeared to be none the wiser…

* * *

 _ **Oracle:** All right then… I see. So you need my help with this?_

 _ **Joker:** Yeah, we need the special gimmick from last time._

 _ **Oracle:** Ah yeah, I gotcha._

 _ **Oracle pulls out a flash drive from her pocket and hands it to Ace, who takes it cautiously and eyes it with interest…**_

 _ **Ace:** … This is what Queen used to clone my laptop hard drive, isn't it? But even so… I found traces of tampering…_

 _ **Oracle:** It's been patched! 2.0, Super Stealth, baby! Should leave no trace now._

 _ **Fox:** But have you tested it?_

 _ **Oracle:** No…_

 _ **Fox:** How do you know for sure that it will work?_

 _ **Oracle:** …_

 _ **Oracle:** I… I know it'll work! Just leave this to the expert, Inari!_

 _ **Oracle turns her attention back to Ace.**_

 _ **Oracle:** The flash drive is the key item on your quest. Make sure you leave the Palace with it on hand. Don't lose it!_

* * *

Futaba sat by her computer, smiling mischievously at the incriminating photographs. It was a picture of one of Shido's men — one of his moles in the SIU — in a shady location, initiating some sort of illicit trade with a criminal ring. Futaba wasn't sure what exactly was being exchanged, but she was certain it would cause quite a bit of trouble for her target of choice.

Futaba cycled through the SIU's security camera feeds, watching the chaos unfold and deleting any footage of Sae as she went. As she did so, she received a text message from Sae, to which she swiftly responded…

* * *

As she made her way through the lobby, Sae opened her phone and texted the Phantom Thieves group chat.

 **Sae:** I'm almost out of the building.  
 **Futaba:** Quest completed?  
 **Sae:** … Quest completed.  
 **Futaba:** Hahahaha. It seems the diversion worked!

Sae looked around. The SIU agents were still frantically attempting to make sense of whatever Futaba had done…

 **Sae:** What did you do?  
 **Futaba:** I distracted them. Just leaked some embarrassing pictures from someone's phone.  
 **Makoto:** Do you mean… one of those pictures that you—  
 **Futaba:** Yep yep.  
 **Makoto:** What?! You could get someone in serious trouble—or fired!  
 **Futaba:** Yeah, I know. And I picked exactly the right person.  
 **Yusuke:** Who might that be?  
 **Futaba:** One of Shido's closest collaborators.  
 **Makoto:** That is extremely immature and reckless of you, Futaba!  
 **Futaba:** Aw, come on. It was the best I could come up with! And it worked, didn't it? They're totally freaking out!  
 **Yusuke:** That's quite a brilliant strategy.  
 **Sae:** But now you've committed a whole host of federal offenses…  
 **Futaba:** Pfft. What else is new?  
 **Futaba:** Job well done. Imma go to sleep now.

* * *

Makoto stood nervously in the alleyway near the entrance to Shujin, awaiting her sister's arrival. She had changed out of her school uniform and was now wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses with tinted blue lenses, and a beige trenchcoat with red patches which was much too big for her. This was the very same silly getup Akira had once donned to elude her, back in June. And here was the alleyway where… their first…

She wasn't sure if that counted or not.

Makoto had removed her headband, which often people overlooked, thinking it was part of her hair. In its place was an enormous wig of abundantly long, curly, identically colored locks. They were rather unruly, so she had tucked them away beneath the trenchcoat. The wig was a new addition to Akira's strange disguise. It had been Yusuke's idea—apparently he kept around a bunch of them for reference. It did not seem like it was really meant to be worn, however, and Makoto found it uncomfortable.

Nonetheless, it was getting quite dark, and she was worried about her sister. It had been a very long evening… going to the Palace… fighting Shido… and now…

 _What if Sis didn't make it? What if she got caught stealing the data?_

But Makoto's fears were swiftly quelled when she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her.

"Makoto?"

Putting a stop to her train of thought, she turned around to see Sae, perfectly safe, if a little disheveled. "Sis!" she rushed forth, and gave Sae a huge hug. Her sister bent downwards somewhat to reciprocate the embrace. "You made it!"

"Of course I did," Sae replied, smiling dearly at her baby sister, "and I got the data. Now we have to give it to Futaba, correct?"

"Yes," Makoto confirmed, "and she'll decrypt it if need be. But, Sis! I'm so glad you're not dead…"

"I'm glad you made it here safely, Makoto," Sae said, reciprocating the sentiment. "I stopped by our apartment on the way here, and apparently it's closed off. There's a police car outside… I wasn't able to get in."

"I see… that reminds me, Sis," Makoto wondered, "don't we still have to deal with all the court stuff? Aren't I still on house arrest?"

"Maybe… but I don't know. They don't put dead people on house arrest," Sae pointed out. "Are you still wearing that ugly anklet?"

Makoto looked down at her foot. By the time of her death, she had been wearing the court-issued monitoring device on her ankle for so long, she had started to not notice its presence. But… it wasn't there.

"It doesn't seem so," Makoto said, "I guess I just didn't come back with it. I didn't have it in Akira's dream world either."

"Then don't worry about it."

"Won't they give me another one?"

Sae smiled. "I have a good feeling that it won't be a problem anymore," she said optimistically. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"Are you… sure you can do that?" Makoto was very quiet. "You could barely save me from capital punishment…"

"No, Makoto," Sae told her, "I could have saved you from more. I could have saved you from expulsion. And from being monitored. I could have saved your friends… I could have saved Akira. But I couldn't see clearly…" a tear graced down Sae's bittersweet facial expression. "I'm better at defending than that, Makoto, but… I couldn't handle the revelation that my baby sister was a criminal."

"Sis…"

Sae wiped away the small tears and, maintaining the hug, stood at her full height and lifted Makoto off her feet—the way she used to do before. Makoto was surprised at being elevated, as though she were still a small child. It brought back a great many good memories…

"Instead of protecting you all, and following justice, I clamped down on an easy victory, just to pad my resume and protect my reputation as a prosecutor." Sae shook her head, a determined, warm, and loving smile gracing her features. "I'll protect you, Makoto. I promise. I won't let you die again. Not you, or any of your... our friends."

* * *

Ann entered her parents' lavish home, and, walking upstairs through the empty halls, flopped down onto her bed. Taking a deep breath, she thought about how easy it was to come home after having been dead…

Her parents were still overseas on some business trip, getting new clothes that they'd designed modeled. In the Netherlands or Denmark or something. Maybe China. They sent letters, occasionally, but they never contained much details of interest to her, so she hardly ever read them. As a result, she'd lost track of where they were, and hardly ever cared.

"Oh… are you… Ann-chan?" a young voice called. Not a voice which Ann was familiar with.

Ann looked up at the source of the voice, an average height young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties. She was wearing a colorful apron over a tye-dyed shirt and a skirt which bore an unusual shade of yellow. Her feet were fitted with a mismatched pair of brightly colored socks. Since her parents were hardly ever around to enforce a dress code, the caretakers usually wore whatever they wanted, but Ann had never seen any caretaker wearing something like this.

"Um… yes, I am she," Ann said politely. "And you are…"

"Tamayama Rie," the woman said. Rie was rather pretty. She had pleasant sage green eyes, short auburn hair, and a small, friendly face.

"When the police started coming over to interrogate the caretakers here, a few them quit because they found their presence here too stressful to do their work effectively… I was hired by Takamaki-sama—er, your father—to replace one such caretaker."

"I see…" Ann understood… her father handled all the management of the servants, and quite frequently found himself hiring new ones. Previous ones were either fired upon being found to be incompetent upon her parents' occasional returns to Tokyo, or quit due to their own reasons—generally because they disliked or couldn't handle working for employers who were never around to offer help or answer any questions.

"Ann-chan," Rie asked, "the police said you were… one of those Phantom Thieves. Is that so?"

"Er—"

"That was a trick question," Rie said, winking, "I saw that video, you know. I'd already seen you in many pictures, and in magazines—I would know your unique frame anywhere." She smiled and sat down next to Ann on her bed. "I'm a huge fan of the Phantom Thieves!"

"Really?" Ann was still a little cautious. Rie seemed nice enough, but she didn't really know her very well yet, and it couldn't hurt to take care before revealing any critical information. "Well—"

"They saved me," Rie went on, "back in July. I was sucked into working that shady drug-smuggling job… I was told that the only way out was to… sell myself…" Rie looked disgusted by the thought. "Of course, I refused. There was no way I was ever going to do such a thing… but when the Phantom Thieves took down that mob boss—Kaneshiro Junya, right?"

Ann nodded. "So…"

"I was just… let go. Since then I've been bouncing around from job to job… and then I saw some advertisement on the internet about a caretaking job at a fancy house… and, here I am." She looked at Ann gratefully, before standing up and bowing her head to the ground. "Thank you for saving me, Ann-sama!"

Ann was stunned and gratified by Rie's words… She had never maintained this long of a conversation with her parents' employees before. Usually they just ignored her and went on with their work (or lack thereof).

"Oh, er—you're welcome, Tamayama-san. Uh… just Ann is alright. Or 'Ann-chan,' if you must."

"Ah, very well then, Ann. In that case, you may call me Rie." Rie smiled brilliantly. "If you don't mind me asking… did the Phantom Thieves really come back from the dead? How did they do it?"

"I…" Ann thought it over for a moment. "I can't say… It's kind of… complicated. I suppose you could say our deaths were a dream."

"A dream…" Rie was fascinated. "That sounds… incredible… it must have been quite the journey."

"Oh, hell yeah it was…"

"What're all of you planning next?" Rie clapped her hands like an excited child. "Something spectacular, I'm sure."

"Well—" Ann wondered how to express this. "It's kind of… difficult to say. But we're not planning to go on much longer…"

"Oh?"

"We… we have something we need to do." Ann said, "a lot of things, actually… well, we'll be changing a number of more hearts soon. We're… we're doing it to save ourselves…" Ann looked a little sad. "We made a lot of enemies, doing what we did, even though we had no choice, but now they're coming after us…"

"I—I see." Rie looked at Ann. She was still pleased at meeting her, but had a slightly disappointed look on her face. "I suppose the police would be trying to find you after all…"

"Oh, it's not the police," Ann clarified, "they seem to have given up… it's more of… a private organization."

"Really… it sounds very exciting."

"Well," Ann went on, "once we take care of them, it probably won't be possible for us to go on—but, I'm glad you're supporting us, Rie. And I'm glad we were able to help you." Ann stood up and prepared to leave. "I should go… I only came here to pick up a few things."

"Oh," Rie seemed a little more disappointed… but after a moment's hesitation, light reentered her eyes, and she beamed at Ann gladly. "Well, Ann—it was wonderful to meet you. Good luck on your journey… and on eluding this enemy. I know you can do it!"

"Thank you, Rie," Ann said appreciatively, and she began to pack up her things. Rie stood, watching her do so quietly. Within a few short minutes, she was done, and Ann exited her room, going to head out and meet everyone.

"Wait!" Rie called out. Ann turned. "Um… before you go… may we exchange phone numbers?"

Ann laughed a little at being asked this. Rie was truly a unique case among her parents' caretakers—first to ever talk to her for more than thirty seconds, first to address her as "Ann-sama," and certainly, the first to ask for her phone number. It was quite unexpected, but very pleasing.

"Sure." Ann gladly took out her phone and obliged Rie's request, then bid her farewell.

* * *

Yusuke was now back at Kosei High. It was quite late, the lights were off, and everyone seemed to be asleep. There were no locks on the dorm rooms, and no security to speak of, which made it fairly easy to gain access. Yusuke entered his dorm room and took a seat, removing his hood and taking a deep, satisfied breath…

But then looked around, noticing the… emptiness… of the room.

"What… where did my… oh no!"

Yusuke's dorm had been almost completely cleared out. There was almost nothing left save for his bed, which was stripped clean of its sheets, his aquarium which had been emptied of water and aquatic life, and the fridge…

"My… my lobsters!" Yusuke shouted in anguish. "Where on earth are my… !"

Yusuke rushed to the fridge and opened it… Nothing was inside.

"… What happened to my bean sprouts?! My nutrition! My nourishment!"

A crowd of Kosei students in their pajamas, who had been awakened from their slumber by Yusuke's yelling, all stumbled over to the open door to see what was going on. "Kitagawa-kun," one of the elder girls said, "are you alright?"

"I… I…" Yusuke turned to face everyone and quieted down. "My apologies. Did I disturb all of you?"

"Dude," said one of the guys, "you woke up like everybody… even the girls heard you, and they're like two hallways away."

"I see…" Yusuke relaxed himself.

"Why are you here?"  
"I heard that you died!"  
"Were you sick or something?"  
"Kitagawa-san, is everything okay?"

The students kept bombarding him with questions…

"Everyone, you may return to your dormitories!" called a loud voice.

They all ran off back to where they came from. A tall figure emerged into the hallway. "Yusuke!" the art professor said in a commanding tone, "I must speak to you for a moment. Would you please come with me to my office?"

Yusuke nodded, and followed his teacher.

"Sensei," he asked as they moved forth through the halls, "what happened while I was away?"

"Quite a lot," his professor said, "There were many unfounded rumors spread about your absence. No need to dwell on every bit of that nonsense…" he sighed in disgust. "I'll inform you of the gist while we discuss matters."

They soon arrived at the office door. Yusuke's teacher opened it and entered, beckoning for him to follow. "Please, take a seat."

Yusuke did so, and carefully said, "What do you know… about what happened?"

"Well, about two and a half weeks ago, you left the art studio for a break, as we all know… and then you were found dead by one of your peers who went out for a cup of coffee." The professor rubbed sleep from his eyes. "Then a police officer came and informed us that you had been a Phantom Thief…"

"And… then what?" Yusuke wondered.

"The headmaster dismissed it as hooey and demanded proof," the professor said, "but the police could offer none, so, no one thinks it's actually true."

Yusuke looked nervous.

"It is true, isn't it?"

"How… how did you know, Sensei?"

His teacher gave a small smile. "Yusuke, their leader—your friend. He had died, yes?" He chuckled a little. Yusuke gave him a strange look.

"Except, he's somehow alive again, I suppose," the professor went on. "The same way you are. I know my reaction may seem odd considering the circumstances—but I simply find it to be somewhat amusing that you and your friends are alive again." He opened a small bottle of water and took a sip.

"Those bleak pictures you painted. I truly did quite appreciate them… they reminded me of my mother. She also painted such odd things."

Putting away the bottle of water, his art teacher turned to Yusuke with a tired look in his eyes.

"Yusuke, I can't say I approve of your actions. But I understand the meaning behind them," his teacher said, "and that perhaps it may have been necessary to do what it was you did… but it doesn't matter too much. No one at this school believed the policeman's words, and your reappearance will almost certainly be dismissed as a freak accident. I have no intention of turning you over to the police as long as you give me no cause to do so. If you wish to stay in your dorm here tonight, I shall permit that."

"Thank you, Sensei," Yusuke said appreciatively. "But I must ask—what was done with my belongings? The lobsters in particular."

"Ah yes, those lobsters," the teacher said, "we had no idea those were there. As a matter of fact—you weren't supposed to have any animals at all. It is one of the rules here… regardless, they were returned to the ocean from whence they came. As for the rest of your belongings, most were sold or given away."

"I see…" Yusuke was quiet a moment. "I appreciate the offer to sleep here tonight, but I only came by to collect my things. I am also not in favor of the current state of my dorm, so I don't think I would like to stay here anyhow. I shall lodge elsewhere tonight." He turned to leave, muttering quietly in an absent-minded manner, "And furthermore, I must get myself some new lobsters at the earliest possible opportunity…"

"Very well. I shall inform the headmaster of your return and sort out your enrollment status. I hope to see you again once school resumes in January. And if you need lobsters, please find somewhere other than the school dorms to keep them."

Yusuke nodded and, with that, departed from Kosei.

* * *

Haru went home, discreetly collected some of her belongings, and promptly left. On the way back, she encountered Sugimura, busily trotting to and fro throughout the streets and whistling boredly to himself.

"Are you…" Sugimura took a moment to recognize Haru through her disguise—a long white colored coat with matching wide-brimmed hat and glasses. "Oh, Haru. I've been looking for you."

"Su—Sugimura—!" she gasped, nearly falling over in shock. "What do you—?"

"I heard you 'came back.' I just wanted to talk to you." The "purple-suited clown," as Akira would call him, spoke in a falsely amiable, acidic tone of voice. "You died… yet you didn't… and you were a Phantom Thief? You killed your own father, hoping to get his money… I wonder." He sounded not apprehensive, exactly, but genuinely curious. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I…" she gasped. Haru had not been pleased to see the world believing that she had murdered her Father. Being reminded of this mistaken belief that she was aware so many people now held was, to say the least, very unpleasant.

"I didn't kill Father!" she shouted at him her voice dripped with fury at the accusation. "And his money is the last thing I want! All I wanted…" she began to cry. "Was to remind him… what mattered most…"

Sugimura sighed. "I don't… never mind, you killed him, or you didn't kill him. It doesn't matter. I do wonder though why, if you held this ability to 'change hearts,' why would you not change mine?" He smirked at her. "Perhaps you couldn't… although I'm not sure why that'd be…"

Why had Haru not thought of this? Perhaps it was possible… Perhaps she could…

"Why do you want to talk to me?" she asked in a forward, demanding tone.

"Ah, yes," Sugimura cleared his throat. "I just wanted to let you know that the marriage was called off on account of you being dead. Don't worry about it, I frankly wasn't interested in wedding you anyhow."

"Oh, uh, really?" Haru wondered, "well, neither was I…"

"Oh. That's refreshing to hear," Sugimura's face shifted from a false smile to a bored frown. He whistled a little more. It was rather painful to listen to; he wasn't very good at whistling. "My own father was very insistent on it happening. He was rather irritated when you died. I rather detest him. I can't wait till he dies as well, so I can finally take over his company."

Sugimura turned his back to her, and Haru observed his wallet sticking out of his back pants pocket. A sudden adrenaline overtaking her, she glanced about to ensure no one was watching and stealthily swiped the wallet, swiftly pocketing it.

Haru had never stolen anything in reality before, and was rather thrilled by the experience. It was not unlike the rush she so often felt from the act of tearing Shadows to pieces in the Metaverse. Perhaps she ought to pickpocket more things if given the opportunity…

 _Or maybe I should put it back..._

"Anyway," Sugimura said, now seeming rather indifferent to her presence, "I have business elsewhere. Good luck to you, Haru. Let us hope we never cross paths again."

Haru said nothing as Sugimura walked away.

Why had she bothered stealing anything from him? He no longer had any ill intentions, now that there was no money in the marriage deal for him, and his father had called it off. Since the bride was supposed to be dead. So what use was this to her?

Haru opened the wallet, and inside found three miscellaneous items—seven hundred yen in bills, a Japanese driver's license, and an old printed photo portrait of Sugimura. Both appeared to be several years old. What made these worth keeping?

In the photograph, Sugimura's hair was unkempt and dirty, and he wore the stupidest looking purple-colored sunglasses. He was sticking his tongue out at the camera, and looked even more like a clown than he did at present. The expiration date on the driver's license was the 12th of January, 2015.

Haru wondered why he was carrying around a nearly two-year old driver's license, and if he had ever bothered to renew it. Perhaps he was no longer permitted to drive.

Though there was no need for the Phantom Thieves to change Sugimura's heart, nor was there any time for them to do so, Haru was intrigued to know if he might have a Palace. She took out her smartphone and opened the Metaverse Navigator.

"My… former fiance—Chisaka Sugimura."

 _No candidates found._

Hmm, well, Haru hadn't expected anything. He wasn't anything other than a spoiled, dissatisfied brat. And he had simply dropped the whole marriage issue and said goodbye to her… she wondered why. Perhaps he was trying to learn some manners.

Or perhaps he had simply been given some other girl to bother. Should that be the case, Haru hoped the girl would be okay, but nonetheless she was glad to be rid of him. It wasn't unimaginable that perhaps he could develop a Palace in the future, when he was finally in control of his father's enterprise.

 _Well, Sugimura probably won't be needing any of this,_ Haru thought, _Since I've relieved him of it, I suppose I'll just keep it as a souvenir._ Replacing the photo and driver's license in her pocket, and bearing a stupid, proud grin on her face, she turned and headed off into the subway.

* * *

Akira was bolted awake by a loud bang on the door of Leblanc. He stood up and looked around the attic…

Futaba was sleeping in Akira's bed. Sojiro was curled up on the couch. Akira, meanwhile, was sleeping on a blanket on the floor. Both Futaba and Sojiro stirred, but somehow, Akira was the only one awakened. Why were they here again… ?

Right. House burned down. Akechi having gone and fiddled with a bunch of wires. Of course. It had been all part of the plan for them to come.

Akira had been extremely tired—one rare instance in which he agreed with Morgana. Fighting Shido had worn him down quite a bit, and not even Kawakami's massages would have been able to save him. He also didn't remember sleeping on the floor… he supposed it had been rather impolite of him to fall asleep before Futaba and Sojiro could discuss the situation with him.

He went downstairs and turned on the lights in the empty Leblanc, where he saw almost all of his teammates waiting outside. Why were they… oh yeah, plan. He rubbed his eyes. Why had he fallen asleep? He supposed it had been a good opportunity to talk to Akechi, but he really shouldn't have zonked out at such a critical moment.

Akira opened the door and let Sae, Makoto, Haru, Yusuke and Ann inside. "Hey everyone," he said, pleased. "Looks like everything went well… but…" he observed a conspicuous absence. "Have any of you seen Ryuji? He was supposed to be here…"

"No," Haru said, thoughtfully, "but now that you mention it…"

"Indeed, no," Yusuke said, "we did abandon him at the Diet Building after he gave us that scare. That may have been a poor decision. You did dress him in his disguise?"

"Yeah," Akira recalled how stupid Ryuji had looked in it. "He should be alright…"

"I'm worried," Ann said, her face falling at the realization, "he isn't responding to my texts…"

"I'm sure he's fine," Sae said hopefully, "that boy's got the speediest sprint I've ever seen. Even if he was apprehended by Shido's former employees, I'm sure he could have easily escaped them."

"That's true in the Metaverse, but he still limps in the real world," Akira pointed out, "because of his leg injury."

"Well, fretting over it won't do us any good for the time being," Makoto reasoned. "If he doesn't show up by morning, I say we go looking for him then. In the meantime, we ought to get a good night's rest."

"I am glad we planned to lodge here tonight," Yusuke noted, "My dormitory would certainly not have permitted a good night's rest in the slightest."

"Oh?" Makoto was curious at this assertion. "And why is that?"

"I do not wish to sleep in a plain white room without a properly made bed, or my lobsters!" Yusuke declared with a frustrated tone, as though his reasoning should have been obvious. "I would much prefer this place, where there's—" he suddenly turned his head to the wall near the door.

"What happened to the Sayuri… ?" He looked like he might cry. "Did the police take that too?!"

"Wha— uh, oh, no." Akira said hastily, "The police gave everything back to Sojiro. I-I think he just moved it so he could clean the wall."

"Ah…" Yusuke said, realizing how silly he had been in jumping to conclusions. "I—I see. Would you mind putting it back?"

"Yeah, no problem," Akira said, fetching the Sayuri from being the bar and replacing it in its home.

"But if the police gave everything back," Haru wondered, "why's the place still empty of coffee?"

"Well… he had no use for the coffee or curry," Akira explained. "It was all spoiled. Anyway, let's go to bed, everyone! Like Makoto said, we'll focus on Ryuji tomorrow."

* * *

Ryuji groaned as he woke up on the ground, his head leaned up against some lame lamppost. His cheek still ached from Ann's slap. And the beatings he had received from the other girls as well, but Ann had hit the hardest…

He felt his face… there was a fake mustache attached to his upper lip… What? This wasn't part of the disguise.

The disguise they had agreed on for him consisted of a green hat and a brown hoodie. It wasn't his style, but since that was more or less the point, he was alright with it. Not too complicated, and not too shabby.

But anyway, the—Right. Ryuji needed to follow up on the plan. He checked his watch. Oh… crap! It had been about an hour and a half since they had left the Palace. He needed to leave right away. He stood up, and, running as fast as he could, hurried home. His mom was going to be really pissed…

He checked his text messages. Apparently, Sae had taken the data, and everyone else was almost at Leblanc. Kawakami had scheduled a private tutoring session at Shujin to help him, Akira, Haru and Ann catch up on the school they'd missed. _Lame,_ he thought, _but whatever._ The prospect of spending almost a day at school during the holidays didn't excite him, but he knew it was important so he decided it'd be best to be prepared. And afterwards, they'd carry out their plan—so it'd be fine! Right?

Ryuji crept up the stairs, and opened the door to his apartment and entered swiftly and quietly. He did not bother to turn on any lights. All he needed, were his schoolbooks, for tomorrow's tutoring. Maybe a few extra changes of clothes, a stick of deodorant. Nothing else was needed… hm. Pajamas, maybe? An extra school uniform, he decided, in case one got dirty. He didn't know if Kawakami would care, but he decided to play it safe just in case.

Alright, he was packed. Keeping his lips closed as tight as he could, Ryuji silently made for the door, taking the carefullest care not to wake—

"Ryuji?! Is that you?"

 _Shit._ "N—nope!" Ryuji responded in a comically deepened voice, "Ain't never heard a no 'Ryuji!' I'm just some random house burg'lar passin' through. I'll, uh, be a-goin' now ma'am—please don't call the coppers—"

His ruse was no good. The light was switched on.

 _"AH!"_ Ryuji jumped, dropping all his stuff. Too late. She was standing at the end of the hall…

"Ryuji!" shouted his mother, Sakamoto Otoha, looking delighted, crying tears of joy. "You're—you're back! You were—my goodness, Ryuji! Where did you go… I was so worried!" She ran up to him and gave him a big, suffocating mama bear hug. "Ryuji… I'm so glad you're back…"

"Mom!" Ryuji choked. "I—agh…"

"Don't…" she released him and gave him a stern look. "Don't EVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN! What were you doing?! The police told me you were dead! And some dreadful balderdash about you being one of those terrible, terrible Phantom Thieves—oh, they must have been mistaken, what nonsense —you disappeared for nearly _three weeks_ … where on earth were you?!"

"Mom…" Ryuji gasped, catching his breath. "I… I have to go…"

"Where? At this hour? Don't be ridiculous!" Otaha grabbed Ryuji by the collar and dragged him down the hall as if he were a sack of potatoes. "What are you doing with all these bags? And these atrocious clothes?! You're grounded, Ryuji—you are not to set a single foot out of this apartment for a week!"

"A… a _week?!_ But—"

"You're going straight to your room, young man! And give me your phone!"

It couldn't be helped. Ryuji's mother was the only adult he could never bring himself to outright disobey. He reluctantly surrendered his smartphone and submitted to his punishment for the time being.

* * *

Makoto awakened in Leblanc's attic, with Akira, as had been the case all those nights in the dream world… except, now, they were finally able to sleep properly. And slept they had…

Although they certainly hadn't done… more intense sleeping… of any sort, considering that there were five other people sleeping in the room with them as well. That would have been greatly inconvenient to everyone else. It certainly didn't help that they were stuck sleeping wrapped in a blanket upon the floor, which was not very comfortable.

Nonetheless, Makoto had enjoyed Akira's presence, and a good night's rest. Things had worked out quite well for them.

Makoto attempted to get up, but found that she had little freedom of motion. Akira's arms were firmly wrapped around her hips, and her own arms were effectively locked to her sides. Wriggling about as carefully as possible, she managed to take hold of Akira's arm and release herself from his unconscious grip.

Upon regaining her freedom, Makoto silently crept downstairs to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday—her school uniform, and she had a severe case of bedhead…

It was the same bedhead, she realized. The day she had first spoken to Akira…

 _Being an honor student and a supposed criminal — we must experience similar levels of alienation from our peers._

 _If only I had known how right he was,_ she mused, as she began slowly changing her clothes.

Misako had been much better at riling up students and interesting them in her cause, however vague her cause may have been. Makoto, however, was a socially awkward outcast, who constantly studied in the library and hardly ever spoke to anyone. It was only because she had the backing of the staff over Misako that she had won the election for Student Council president. Any student who ever tried to speak to her in the library, the only place she could be found after school most days, would receive a brief, stern lecture on how they were distracting from her studies.

Makoto had given such a lecture to Akira, the very first time they'd met. He had asked her a question—she didn't think he remembered. To him, she had probably been simply a "Diligent-looking Student." Neither ever having imagined that they would end up working together, as thieves of all things. Or that he would become her first boyfriend, and how they would fit together so well, like butter and bread. Akira truly was an incredible boy to have awakened her as such, and seemingly so effortlessly.

And to have come back from the dead… he acted so calm about it. So smooth. Makoto admired his resolve so much. It was immensely astonishing. Yet… she sensed that somehow, he was… injured, as well. They hadn't had time to talk about it, but, he had died. He had been drugged and beaten, abused. He acted like it didn't bother him, and maybe it didn't when he was Joker, but…

Makoto brushed off those thoughts for now. She didn't want to depress herself so early in the morning. They would need optimum morale to pull off what was coming next. But where, she wondered, oh where was Ryuji? He had still not been seen since yesterday. She was very worried… So Makoto took out her phone and called him.

The line rang, and after a moment someone picked up.

 _ **"WHO IS THIS? WHY ARE YOU CALLING THIS PHONE?!"**_

The voice that shouted into Makoto's ear was that of a woman, loud and shrill, and she instantly feared that it might have awakened everyone else. Startled, she pulled her phone away from her ear and quickly hung up. She'd have thought she'd be used to loud people by now, thanks to Ryuji, but whoever that was clearly took the cake.

Perhaps Ryuji had changed his number. Why would he have done that? And when? Makoto was now gravely concerned.

* * *

Akira nearly jumped off of the hard wooden attic floor, awakened by a screaming female voice from downstairs. He was still in his same clothes from yesterday—the regular Shujin uniform. It did not make for very comfortable pajamas.

The first thing he noticed was Makoto's absence from his arms. At this, he was instantly freaked out. Was she okay? He looked around the attic. Everyone else was stirring as well, but he was the only one fully awake.

Doing his best not to disturb them any further, Akira stood up and went downstairs to find… the bathroom door, ajar. "Makoto?"

Makoto opened the door, revealing the inside of the cramped bathroom. Sojiro had a very minimalistic stock of toiletries—a bar of soap, toilet paper, and… that was about it. Akira rubbed his eyes sleepily and looked at his girlfriend sleepily.

Makoto's hair was messy and she looked rather flustered, quite like she had in her mouse form in Shido's Palace. Akira had never mentioned this before, but she had looked very cute as a mouse…

That wasn't important. "Hey…" he groaned sleepily, "what happened? Who was shouting?"

"I—someone on the phone," Makoto explained. "I tried to call Ryuji. Uh…"

There was movement from upstairs. Akira looked down a little and noted that Makoto—

"Do you want help getting dressed?"

Makoto seemed to have forgotten that… Akira reminding her induced another of her tremendous blushes.

She pulled Akira towards her, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, then gave him an awkward, sloppy kiss and released him. "I think everyone's awake. This isn't an ideal position to be found in…" Makoto reached into her bag and retrieved a fresh white shirt, which she hastily put on overtop of the rather thin black bra she had been wearing. "Don't you have to go do a check around Leblanc for anyone suspicious?"

"R-right…"

Forgetting Makoto for the time being, Akira exited the bathroom and stepped outside Leblanc.

* * *

The sun was barely up, and the early morning air of Yongen-Jaya was cool and moist. There were no suspicious people to speak of, for which Akira was thankful. Same people as usual. That drunk man who liked to hang around in the evening, now hungover. Shopkeepers—thrift store, supermarket, etc. And… Takemi Tae, chilling in front of the laundromat, of all places. Watching Leblanc?

"Takemi-san," Akira wondered, "what are you doing?"

"What do you think? Waiting for this place to open up again," Takemi replied coolly. "What are you doing, undead guinea pig? Do you want me to test your blood?"

"Um—" Akira thought for a moment. "Maybe…"

Takemi put on a pair of gloves, pulled out a small syringe and pricked Akira with it.

"Ow… is this really the place to do this…"

"Hold still," the doctor implored calmly, as she pulled the top of the syringe towards herself, drawing out Akira's blood. She filled it up as much as she could, then withdrew it. As Akira rubbed the spot where Takemi had pricked him, she taped over the needle and then placed the syringe inside a small sealed plastic bag. This, she stored away inside her pockets.

"That should do splendidly," she said, happy that she had been afforded the opportunity. "Now, I understand you're planning to run off somewhere new, Akira, so, once more. Don't die on me. Again."

"Right…"

"Don't worry," Takemi assured him, "I'll watch out here for any potential infections. Clinic's closed today, so I have plenty of time."

"The clinic is closed… ? What about your patients?"

Takemi chuckled. "They all know where to find me in case of emergencies. Don't fret over them, little guinea pig. Everything's just fine. Now, you'd best scurry on back, before someone unhelpful comes along."

Akira nodded, and ran back into Leblanc.

* * *

Ryuji, hearing his mother yelling something, awakened and looked around his room. It was way early in the morning, and the lights were turned off. He checked the time…

It was 4:15 AM. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no… He needed to get to Leblanc ASAP.

Turning to his bedroom door, he opened it and quietly creeped through the hall, doing his best not to alert his mom again. Within a few short moments, he made it to the hall's end and found his bags, right where he'd left them. Okay, so far so good. Now, Ryuji made once again for the door—

"RYUJI!"

Ryuji froze in place and turned to see his mom again. Otoha looked utterly infuriated. "What are you doing now?!" she screamed. "Why are you—"

"I, uh… Mom! I have to go to school today!"

"Oh, well, then you should have said so! I'll drive you to school if you need to go there, Ryuji!"

"Uh… Mom! No, you can't… It's dangerous!"

"Dangerous?" Ryuji's mother now looked quite puzzled and concerned. "What leads you to say such things, Ryuji?"

 _Time to tell the truth…_

"Mom…" Ryuji began slowly, "What the police said—"

Otoha's eyes widened in shock. "Don't—don't tell me, Ryuji…"

"I… I'm a Phantom Thief…" he confessed urgently. "I have to go do… something."

"You… this can't be…"

"I'm sorry, Mom! I have to go. They're coming…"

"What? Who's coming? Ryuji, what kind of awful nonsense have you—"

"I'll explain everything when I get back," he said, "I promise…"

"Wha—no!" she yelled, "you can't… you need to tell me right now what on Earth is going on!"

"There's no time!" Ryuji yelled at her. "I have to get out of here!"

Ryuji turned around and rushed out the door, clumsily dropping his bags down the stairs as he went. Picking up his bags as he opened the door to the apartment building, he then began to run as fast as he could…

"Ryuji…" Otoha stood at the top of the stairs, watching him go. She couldn't believe what her son had just told her.

"Please… don't become like your father…"

* * *

"Ryuji's still not here!" Yusuke said, panicked. "Where could he have gone?!"

"We can't wait for him!" Futaba said, sounding equally distraught. "They're sending someone this way to investigate Leblanc! If they find us here…"

"Takemi will stall them," Akira reminded her, "but… she can only do so much…"

"What… what are we going to do?" Haru gasped, "we can't leave without Ryuji…"

"We're going to have to!" Makoto yelled, "We can't get caught here!"

"God damn you, Ryuji… !" Ann hissed. "You can't disappear on us again! Please let this be like it was last night…"

Morgana came back inside from Yongen. "We've gotta go!" he yelled, "someone's coming!"

"This is an unfortunate turn of events." Sae lamented, "Please, everyone, stay close! We can't lose more of you! Sakura-san—"

"Follow me, kids," Sojiro said, opening the back door. Akira didn't even know Leblanc had a back door, but he didn't dwell too much on this. Grabbing his bags, he followed Sojiro out into the alleyway behind Leblanc. It was a rather cramped network of alleyways, but they made it work, somehow.

"Who's driving?" Akira asked.

"I'm driving, of course," Sojiro answered impatiently, "it's my car!"

Sojiro apparently had two cars. The one he'd picked Akira up in was nowhere near as big enough to carry ten people and a cat… Akira wondered what the other one was like.

* * *

Takemi Tae stood outside Leblanc, and caught a glimpse of Boss, some older woman with silver-red hair, and all his kids hurriedly running away. Except the blonde one seemed to be missing… she wondered if they were meeting up with him somewhere else.

As Tae contemplated this, she saw a suspicious-looking man in a black suit. No one in Yongen wore a suit like that, and all the neighbors were staring. She decided to strike up a conversation with him.

"Excuse me," she said politely, moving to meet his eyes, and consequently blocking his path, "but you seem to be not from around here. Are you lost?"

"Not at all," the man said curtly. "I'm looking for some suspects in a criminal case."

"Ah, is that so?" Tae smiled politely, "so you're a cop?"

"That's correct. Now if you'll please step aside, ma'am…"

"You know, the last time the police came by here, they arrested the owner of this cafe," Tae began, indicating Leblanc, "it's quite a shame. He was such a nice man, and he made my favorite coffee…"

"That's… too bad, er, miss—"

"Such quality coffee," Tae lamented sadly, "such great healing potential, if taken in moderation, might I add. I would know. I'm Takemi Tae, have you heard of me?"

"Not at all. If you'll excuse me, I must—"

"Ah, that's unfortunate," Tae told the man, ignoring his request to move. "I run the clinic just that way," she pointed to it, "and I'm the doctor here. Everyone in this neighborhood comes to me when they get sick, which isn't often. Not a lot of money in it, granted, but it is very pleasant work."

"Really…" the man said, skeptically. He seemed to be forgetting his mission somewhat. "You don't look like a doctor."

"Maybe, but, looks aren't everything," Tae retorted, a little loudly, "for instance, you don't look like a cop. Yet you're still here, someplace you don't belong, and you claim to be a cop. You haven't shown me your badge, there have been no crimes here, and we would all know if there were any crimes. Your appearance here is quite suspicious. I wonder…"

"Hey," called out the oft-drunken man who frequently hung around outside Leblanc at night, "you don't look familiar. Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm a cop!"

"That so?" the man shrugged. "Y'know, the cops came by here a good few weeks ago. They arrested that Sakura fellow in charge of the coffee place. Not my business, and I never had his coffee, but that black-haired boy, his son I think it was. He was always such a nice upstanding young fellow… wonder what happened to him."

"I… I couldn't tell you…"

"Hey, what's that scary man doing here, menacing Takemi-san?!" shouted another Yongen resident. "He's disturbing the peace!"

"Yeah," shouted the owner of the used goods stand, where Akira had once bought a tube television. "He's scaring away all my customers! What the hell's going on?"

A few other people jeered disapprovingly, thoroughly vexed at the unwelcome stranger's presence in their neighborhood.

The supposed cop glanced around in confusion, terminated his interaction with Tae without another word, and went on his way. However, at every turn he found his path hampered by residents or shopkeepers yelling at him to go away. A few particularly vexed and rather immature individuals pelted food at him, ruining his suit.

Tae smiled mischievously, observing all his troubles from afar. _Good luck running from "the law," my little guinea pig._

* * *

Sojiro led them all through the alleyways. Within a few short minutes, they arrived at a medium-sized, somewhat dated model of grey and black van parked on the streets, not far from the empty foundation where his house used to be. "Thank god no one gets parking tickets around here," he said, "otherwise this would have been impounded ages ago…"

Everyone tossed their bags into the trunk and got in, still clearly reluctant to leave without Ryuji. Sojiro found his way to the front and started the engine. Sae rode shotgun, Akira, Yusuke, and Makoto piled into the middle, while Haru, Futaba, and Ann took the seats in the back. "Everyone all buckled in?"

"Ryuji…" Ann whispered rather audibly, "please don't be dead…"

"Nothing we can do for now," Akira said sadly. "I think we're okay, Sojiro. Let's get out of here."

Sojiro put his foot on the gas pedal and began to drive. No other vehicles were seen sharing the road with them.

"Will they recognize your license plate, Sakura-san?" Sae asked.

"They shouldn't know whose vehicle this is," Sojiro replied, "I haven't used it in nearly five years."

"Five years?!" Morgana gasped, "what if it breaks?"

"Morgana's asking if it'll be okay," Akira translated. "He's concerned about the age."

"Heh, I wouldn't worry," Sojiro chuckled, "Nothing really wrong with it, and I gave it a tune-up last night. It should be in pretty good shape."

"You're a mechanic, Sakura-san?" Haru asked curiously. "It's impressive that you have so many useful skills."

"Eh, you need 'em for the kind of work I used to do," Sojiro said modestly. "I'm only so-so at it. Half the time I get things mixed up in there…"

"Hey, wait," Makoto said suddenly. "Boss, stop the van!"

"Wait, what? Why?" Sojiro said, looking up and to the side.

Akira looked out the window and saw a familiar lanky figure with spiky blonde hair…

"Ryuji!" Ann yelled.

Ryuji looked really tired out, as if he'd run quite a long way. Must have been a very long way, Akira reasoned, for him to appear so fatigued. It also appeared that he'd put quite a bit of pressure on his injured leg in making as much haste as he had.

Seeing everyone in the van, Ryuji ran in front of it and began waving his arms frantically. "Whoa there!" Sojiro yelled in surprise, stepping on the brakes. They squealed abnormally loudly. "Hm, sounds like those could use some work."

Ryuji rushed to the middle section of the van, where Ann was sitting, and opened the door. "Hey," he said, "sorry I'm late! My mom—"

Ann wasn't having any of it. She slapped him in the face.

"OW! Jesus! I'm sorry, okay?!"

Not saying a single word to him, Ann moved over into the middle seat next to Haru to make room for Ryuji.

"Ah, come on, what's with that attitude? Just say somethin'!"

"Ryuji, just get in!" Akira yelled, "we don't have time for this!"

Ryuji groaned in protest, but, hastily tossing his bag into the back, entered the van and shut the door. Sojiro resumed driving and they kept going.

"Hey, Sae," Futaba said, "you have that data, right?"

"Indeed I do," Sae confirmed, passing the flash drive to the back. Yusuke took it, and held it out to Futaba.

"Awesome!" Futaba cheered. She took the flash drive from Yusuke's hands and plugged it into her laptop. "Now we can figure out who our next targets are! Oh, and by the way, Akira, that song you had us use? 'Wake Up, Get Up,' by that Shoji dude?"

"What of it?" Akira said curiously.

"Well…" Futaba turned her laptop screen to him, showing him a page on a digital sales tracking website. "Since we used that song for the calling card, digital sales of it on iRworms have risen by like… twelve percent!"

"That ain't very much," Ryuji opined, sounding disappointed, "and wouldn't it be cooler if we were getting a cut of the profits? We're responsible for it, after all. They should be thanking us!"

"I don't think that's how music licensing works…" Haru said skeptically.

"But we didn't license it or nothin'!" Ryuji shouted.

"Which is why we wouldn't be getting any money from it…" Ann pointed out, exasperated by Ryuji's stubbornness.

"Well, whatever, it's cool isn't it?! 3% of half a million is a lot!" Futaba seemed pretty excited about it.

"I guess so," Makoto decided thoughtfully. "I mean, there are only about nine million people in Tokyo's wards, so it is still a relatively small number if you think about it… but still, it is a lot."

"That's… pretty good," Akira said, a little lost for words. "It's a good song."

"Whatever…" Ryuji seemed bored by Makoto's analysis. "Anyway, where we goin' first?" he asked eagerly. "Shujin, right?"

"Actually," Sae said, "there's somewhere else I'd like to go before that…"

Haru gives a hesitant nod. "Me too, if that would be possible..."

* * *

"Father…" Haru looked down at the gravestone, labeled _Okumura Kunikazu._ "It's been awhile…" She coughed nervously, hesitating.

"I miss you…" Sae said sorrowfully, standing next to Makoto over another grave a good distance away, which read _Niijima Aritomo._ "I'm sorry for what I've done… dishonoring your legacy as I did…"

It was still very early in the morning and the sun had only just come up. Light mist lined the air around the cemetery. Sojiro's van was parked a good distance away, and everyone was waiting, watching from afar.

"You were going to give me away… so eagerly… to a man who would do me harm, for the sake of your company… you let money and power blind you… from your father's… my grandfather's… dream…"

"I… I forgot what was important. I… I didn't want to acknowledge you were gone. So I pretended that you'd never been there to begin with…"

Tears began streaming from Haru's eyes. "And yet… I still miss you… Why? Why do I… mourn your loss? Father…"

Sae began weeping softly. "I'm sorry, Father," she cried, "I lost my path…"

Haru collapsed to her knees and sobbed. As she cried, wet tears pouring from her eyes and landing on the warm grass, fading into the cool, moist morning air…

Makoto gave Sae a small hug, before approaching Haru, and putting a comforting arm over her shoulder.

Haru was so deep in thought that she barely noticed the other girl's touch. Sae, seeing Makoto's intention, watched for a moment, then turned back to talk to her father's grave…

"I know you… you would have… been proud of me for joining them…" Sae smiled a little.

Haru looked up at her own father's gravestone again—

"But I know… you wanted to bring people joy… You wanted to…" Haru choked up.

"I'll carry on, Father!" the both of them said with determination.

"I'll bring love back to your company… but on my own terms… I'll realize Grandfather's vision…"

"I'll keep going… I'll keep Makoto safe. I will uphold my justice, Father, no matter what I must do…"

Makoto lifted her other arm and held Haru in a tight, warming embrace around her waist. The grieving girl continued crying softly…

"I love you, Father…"

It was a moment before Haru became fully cognizant of Makoto's arms around her, when she turned her head…

"Mako-chan…" Haru wiped another tear from her eye. "You… you're here… when did you…?"

Makoto looked at the other gravestone in the distance, where Sae was still watching attentively.

"You looked… really sad."

Sae began moving away from the Niijima grave.

Haru turned and returned Makoto's hug. "Thank you…

"Your father… what was he like?"

"He was—" Makoto began.

"A good man," Sae finished, walking over and squatting to meet Makoto and Haru's eyes. "He taught us to see… the truth…"

"The truth," Haru mused, "I'm still not sure what that is yet. We've seen so much together…"

"We'll find it," Makoto promised.

The three of them sat together silently in the grass for a long while.

"Haru," Makoto asked, "if you don't mind me asking… was there a particular reason why you wanted to come here today?"

"I…" Haru said softly… "I met Sugimura last night. He told me about how he hated his father… wanted him to die, so he could take over his company. It made me think. That maybe I should reaffirm the meaning of my relationship with my own father, and my own motives…" She smiled softly. "I think it went well. What about you?"

"Sis wanted to…" Makoto began, "talk to… Dad, about everything that happened."

Sae nodded. "So much went wrong these past seven years. I wanted to tell him… that I was going to fix it, I suppose. I think I've gotten a better sense of… clarity, now, since I joined your team. I wanted to share that with him."

"I'm glad," Haru said gratefully, "that we were able sort out our thoughts."

"Yes," Makoto agreed. "I feel better having come here as well. It'll keep my spirits up while I wonder what to do about school."

"Ah, that's right," Haru remembered, "you can't come with us today…"

"I'll have that sorted out soon," Sae promised, "once we've cleaned up after Shido. Shall we go?"

The three of them all agreed to leave, and went back to the van.

* * *

A tired and disheveled Kaneto Masaji, having already dealt with a long night of questions and phone calls from his cooperators, dialed the IT company president.

 _"Hello?"_

"Can you get Alibaba the hell out of our systems?! They hacked my phone and leaked my personal data! They're still causing trouble for us!"

 _"… I'm already on it."_

"What's taking so long?"

 _"Alibaba is pretty good… I'm impressed, to be honest. They don't seem to be a real threat, though. Just some inane prankster."_

"This 'inane prankster' seems to be connected to the Phantom Thieves!"

 _"Yes, but I mean they aren't causing any actual damage or leaking critical information. They're simply being a pain in the ass."_

"But—!"

 _"I understand it's a nuisance,"_ the IT president said dismissively, " _but we've got it under control. Soon enough they'll be evicted. Be patient."_

There was a _click_ —another one; Kaneto had been hearing a lot of those lately—and the call was ended. He started to leave so he could go home and sleep the rest of the day, but his cell phone rang yet again…

It was the SIU director. Doubtlessly asking more questions about what the hell those pictures were about. He reluctantly took the call, and spat in a fatigued voice:

"Yes, Kaneto Masaji speaking."

 _"What is the meaning of this?!"_ shouted the director furiously. _"And who are these people in the photographs with whom you are making this exchange? Do they know anything about us or Shido-san?!"_

Kaneto sighed, irritated. "I don't know what they know, if anything at all. This was several years ago. It was nothing important."

 _"I'm told that this was not authorized by Shido-san or anyone else with sufficient privileges to approve such a thing. You were using his money without permission!"_

"Right, well—I apologize for any inconvenience." Kaneto said impatiently. "If there's anything I can do—"

 _"No, nothing right now. Goodbye."_

* * *

After ending the call with Kaneto, the SIU director thought through the past day's events. Phantom Thieves… Alibaba attacked us, not once, but twice… Shido's heart… and goddamn Niijima… and that video.

The director had a sudden thought… Niijima… The Thieves… they had both been…

Hold a moment… There were eight known Phantom Thieves. Those seven teenagers, and that odd cat thing. But the video had shown nine, hidden away in shadows, the bright lights cast behind them from in front of the Diet Building where it had been supposedly filmed…

Who was the ninth?

The director rushed to his computer and opened up the recording of the Phantom Thieves' announcement… the voices were slightly distorted, but—

"We only steal the hearts of criminals. But this asshole tried to dump what he did ON US! That just shows he doesn't care about those victims at all!"

What a ridiculous song they had chosen…

"The man behind it all," a bold female voice went on, "is a former cabinet member, of all things—the current Prime Minister of Japan—Shido Masayoshi!"

That voice…

He fast-forwarded to near the end, and his eyes were drawn to the silhouette of the tallest thief. A woman, wearing a hat embodying a rather antiquated style, high heels, and a large gown… Could it be…

The director made another phone call.

"Hello… ? Yes. We have a problem…"

* * *

 _ **End Notes:** The next chapter is going to be quite unique among the others, so I'm excited for that. Hopefully we can get that out by the end of the week, or the beginning of next week. Everything takes a lot longer with an editor. Which is good cause things are better in the end. Not good cause the process of writing gets way more complex than it does when you're by yourself. But, I've never had an editor before (unless you count my mom slashing shit on my homeschool essays with red pen), and I love having an editor! It makes things so much more fun and quite frankly I needed Mac's help. Without him around this chapter would have devolved into absolute confuzzling bullshit._

 _This probably would have been up like two days ago, but Mac pointed out a shit ton of plot holes, character inconsistencies, and factual errors (for instance, I somehow forgot that you can't wear any hats/glasses in a photo for an ID, and made Sugimura's stupid picture the one on his driver's license rather than a separate item. Should have known that, I just got passport photos a few weeks ago...). Mac also gave me a bunch of other ideas, like Takemi stopping the fake conspiracy cop and the Yongen residents yelling. That was something we came up together with as a result of a conversation we were having. Plus he added a bunch of his own stuff as well. If any of you are curious to know more specifics, feel free to ask in the comments! I'd be going on and on forever if I named everything he came up with or gave me an idea for._

 _Anyhoo, I hope we did good and you all liked it. Thanks for reading as always!_

Yo, Mac here! And I gotta say, Ao3 is a pretty great place so far! As for this chapter, Josiah gives me too much credit; I couldn't have changed his mind or pointed out plot holes if he weren't a reasonable person in the first place! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter despite the wait, and that you'll enjoy what's coming up next!

 _Update: Thanks Mac! Anyway, forgot something important - the cemetery bit with Sae and Makoto was inspired by a fanart from Tumblr blog cheesyturtle, and a voice dub of it by YouTuber Princess Sakura Serenity. I actually took it upon myself to provide subtitles for the video, cause, I really liked it and then I ended up borrowing the dialogue for that part of this chapter. Anyhoo, yeah, that's that. It's good stuff._


	25. 新聞 女 And a Forgettable Name

_**Different sorta chapter today! As always, thanks to Mac for all his help with this! Really helped define the character's personalities and make the plot neater. Hope you all like what we did here! (It's also a rather long chapter. Hope no one's bothered by that :) )**_

* * *

"Okay," Akira reminded everyone, "disguises on." He, Ann, Ryuji, and Haru all put on their outfits and opened the doors to Sojiro's van, which was parked a good few blocks from Shujin in order to avoid drawing suspicion. School was out for winter break, after all, and there weren't many others who needed to catch up.

"You all remember what the rules are, right?" Makoto reminded them.

"Yeah," Akira assured her. "I think we'll be fine."

"Stay safe, kids," Sojiro said encouragingly, "and remember, if you go out at any point, let us know where you are and don't lollygag around in one place."

"And don't look at anyone," Sae commanded firmly. "Don't let anybody unfamiliar see your faces, got it?"

"That would be a truly unfortunate occurrence," Yusuke agreed.

"They'll be fine!" Futaba said confidently. "I've been watching the cameras since we got here. There's almost nobody else anywhere near here. Too early morning, winter break. It's gonna be good!"

"If you say so, Futaba," Morgana still seemed a bit concerned.

"I shall see you all later, then," Yusuke said pleasantly. "Boss, is there any possibility that we can stop by a shop so I can get new lobsters while we are waiting for them?"

"What?" Sojiro said, baffled. "What do you need lobsters for? We can't cook 'em in here."

"For aesthetic purposes," Yusuke explained, "I appreciate the way their tails in particular—"

"No, Yusuke," Makoto said firmly, "there's no time to get lobsters, and we have nowhere in the van to keep them."

"I see… very well. Goodbye, everyone!"

Akira made to get out of the car, but his companion cat yowled at him.

"Hey, wait! You're leaving without taking me along?!"

Akira stopped and turned to look at him. Morgana seemed incredulous at the idea of being left behind. "Er—"

"Come on! Don't you need me?"

"...No?" Akira really didn't need him. He liked Morgana, but found his constant overbearing presence in his everyday life to be a bit of a nag (though he acknowledged the occasional advantages that his cat's observations afforded him). He had been hopeful that today he'd be able to take a break from all that.

"Don't be silly!" Morgana laughed a little, as if Akira had made a joke. "Of course you need me!"

"Why do you even want to come? We're gonna be sitting in a boring classroom, doing every shred of schoolwork we've missed. Do you really want to sit through all that? In a cramped, tiny desk?"

"Of course, Akira," Morgana answered earnestly, "I want to help! I could tell you the answers to some of the difficult questions!"

"Kawakami knows you can talk," Akira told him, "she wouldn't let you help…"

"Can't he just take my place instead?" Ryuji whined. "Then he'd get to do the work, and my brain wouldn't turn to curdled cheese..."

"I think it's already kinda like that…" Ann pointed out teasingly.

Ryuji glared in response to this remark, though his small smile showed he didn't take offense. "Shaddup!"

"Not entirely sure what's going on back there," Sojiro said, "but you kids should make your decision about the cat and get going."

Akira sighed in defeat and stuffed Morgana into his bag. The cat yowled in protest at being manhandled, but Akira paid him no mind and said goodbye to Sojiro, Sae, Yusuke, Futaba and Makoto.

With that, he split up from Ann, Ryuji, and Haru. The four of them all took four different paths to Shujin, and entered through four different entrances, before they reconvened in the classroom where Kawakami and a pile of homework awaited them.

* * *

"Alright," Kawakami said, exhausted, "I think we can take a break… pencils down."

Akira, Ann, Ryuji, and Haru rose from their seats in classroom 2-D. They were all in the front row, close to the desk where Kawakami stood, watching. With her guidance and supervision, they had spent hours upon hours completing lesson packets and quizzes. Akira was soon fatigued, as were everyone else.

"One hour," Kawakami promised them. "We've been at this a long while…"

"Whew…" Ryuji stretched his arms above his head.

"I think I'm gonna go buy some sweets," Ann said, tiredly, getting up and turning to leave the classroom.

"I'll go with you, Lady Ann!" Morgana said eagerly, leaping onto her shoulder, "I can be your bodyguard!"

Ann laughed. "Thanks, Morgana." She placed the overexcited cat inside her purse.

"I'm gonna go for a run," Ryuji told them, "I'll be back later."

"Yeah…" Haru murmured as she rose, seeming to be half-asleep. "I'll go to the roof and see how my plants are doing."

"Just remember what Sae and Sojiro said, right?" Akira reminded them. They all nodded in agreement.

"Cool. I'll see you all later…" he groaned. Standing up, he exited the classroom and entered the hallway, where, instead of going anywhere, he simply walked about the hallway and stretched his legs. But before he could do too much of that, he heard another student behind him.

"Hey," said a voice, "Kurusu Akira, was it?"

"Oh yeah…" Akira said, turning to the other student, "you're that last newspaper club member. From the dying newspaper club."

"I'm glad you remember me." She smiled, seeming very pleased.

The newspaper club member had neat, long hair (dyed black in accordance with the Shujin dress code), deep brown eyes behind narrow glasses with red frames, and a tired look on her face. She was the same girl whom Akira frequently encountered in the hallways of Shujin after class, with whom he occasionally conversed about the Phantom Thieves, and current going ons at school.

"Let me tell you," the girl sighed, "I was working with the Student Council after Niijima-san died, and a lot of crazy stuff happened… I'm nearly at my wit's end. This council is utterly destroying itself. And with the Phantom Thieves all gone… and the news that our last Student Council president was one of them... Everything's gone totally cuckoo."

She parted her hair absentmindedly. "Weren't you Niijima-san's boyfriend?"

"I… am… her boyfriend," Akira said awkwardly.

The newspaper club member looked at him apologetically. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Uhhh -" Akira didn't know how to properly explain how it was that he hadn't lost Makoto. "It… happened so suddenly… and then other stuff… er… what are you doing here during winter break?"

The bespectacled girl looked at him with a strange, nervous expression on her face. "I'm… watching out for news, I guess. I don't know, I'm just bored. Why are you here?"

"Missed a month of school…" Akira yawned deeply. "Got a lot to catch up on."

"Oh. Anyway…" she said, "I heard that some unknown person or persons pretending to be the Phantom Thieves sent a message challenging Prime Minister Shido. How did that happen? I wonder what Dekishi-san will think of this. She probably won't like it…"

"Dekishi… ?"

"Dekishi Misako," the newspaper club member clarified, "the new student council president. I guess you did miss school for a while… you wouldn't know what's been happening. Shall I tell you the story, Kurusu-kun?"

Akira checked his phone's clock, to see that he had plenty of time to kill. "Sure…"

* * *

It was the 21st of November. I was standing outside the office, tiredly watching out for anything or anyone of interest. I was getting desperate for exciting subject matter to put in the school paper. Shujin had almost no news to speak of these days, and it had been so since the Kamoshida incident—which itself had broken a dry spell.

To be frank, Shujin was quite a boring school to attend, where hardly anything remarkable happened. It was hardly a wonder that no one except myself remained on the newspaper club; I was stuck either investigating incidents in the immediate surrounding area, or reporting on trivial matters such as the rising prices of the bread available to students. I am not an economically minded person, and have no interest in such things as the changing cost of food and similar commodity products.

I heard Niijima-san in the office, discussing matters with the new principal. I myself was waiting for her to come out, so that I might speak to her about a future interview.

Interviews with the Student Council were one of the only things keeping the principal from axing the Newspaper Club—which, by Shujin's guidelines for establishing and maintaining a school club, should have been disbanded long ago. The teacher responsible for managing it had long ago quit, citing an unacceptable level of abuse from another, unknown staff member. But Principal Kobayakawa was reluctant to let it go, given its legacy for producing such distinguished journalists, so he had allowed it to remain.

Now, his replacement saw it as a useless waste of resources, and the articles which I wrote as utter trash, and was determined to get rid of it. However, the school board would not allow it. But while it still existed, my freedom as a writer was kept on a tight leash. Told to write about very specific things relating to the school, and of a very specific, idealistic mindset which painted a pleasant picture, I was one deviant article away from losing my position as the lonely newspaper club leader.

Anyway… Niijima-san and the principal were talking about some sort of forgotten assignment.

 _"You never turned it in? That's quite the surprise…"_

 _"I'm sorry."_

Niijima-san sounded rather sad. I was uncertain of the reason, but it was none of my business, so I simply stood by and continued to await her exit. There was no way I could have predicted the events that transpired almost immediately thereafter. It was a truly unexpected twist of fate.

 _"Well, your grades are excellent, and you're Student Council president - so I'm sure you'll be admitted anywhere you apply. That one Phantom Thief should have followed your example—"_

The principal was abruptly interrupted by the ringing of a phone.

 _"My apologies, Niijima-chan, I should answer this…"_

The principal spoke in a low voice. I only caught bits and pieces of his side of the conversation. As he carried on talking, my curiosity was only exponentially amplified.

 _"Hello?_

 _"Yes…_

 _"I see…_

 _"That is…_

 _"My goodness… !_

 _"Her?!_

 _"Yes… she's here. You may come at once."_

The principal hung up the phone. His voice took on a truly disheartened tone.

 _"Niijima, I'm afraid there's a problem."_

 _"W-What would that be?"_

"I apologize for the inconvenience, but you're not permitted to leave this office for the time being. The police are coming. I've been told that they have evidence proving you're one of the Phantom Thieves."

 _"What?! N-no! This must be—"_

 _"I find this hard to believe, but we will have to look into it. If it is true, it cannot be excused. There will be grave consequences for you."_

 _"Uh—"_

Niijima-san sounded like she was about to cry.

A Phantom Thief? I myself could not believe it. It was true, however, that she had been acting somewhat odd these past few months, and had been, with steadily increasing frequency, dodging or deflecting many of my questions during interviews. Particularly about the company she kept. What had been up with her?

I knew I wouldn't be able to get any interviews with Niijima now, and by all logic I should have simply left. But for some reason, I found myself rooted in place in the hallway, watching the office door with a sick anticipation. It was as if I were inside one of my own news articles, and—I wasn't certain, but perhaps it was my natural instinct as a writer to see the whole story through to the end.

I didn't have to wait very long. Within about a half hour, several officers—a few wearing standard police attire, but a good number of them wore black suits and sunglasses—came up the stairs. I heard many nervous and excited whispers.

 _Whoa! Cops again?!_  
 _Did they find someone?_  
 _Maybe they're investigating!_  
 _Are they here to ask questions again?_

The tallest of them, one of the ones in the suits, who wore his hair in a scruffy black mullet, approached the office door. He knocked rather loudly and aggressively. So loudly, in fact, that I wouldn't have been surprised if the entire school had heard it.

Even if the rest of school hadn't heard that, they almost certainly heard the yells of all the witnesses a few brief moments later, as Niijima Makoto emerged a downtrodden captive. Her face bruised and wet with tears, her colored headband removed, now in the hands of one of the officers. Her hands were cuffed, and, though she was clearly trying not to show it, she was obviously terrified.

One officer held her fast by the arms, while another patted her down. Throngs of students emerged from the floors both below and above, and the practice building, to see for themselves what was happening to Miss President. I could do nothing but watch… and write. My hand moved furiously through my notebook as I took notes on the scene.

"Hey, you."

In response to her surprisingly calm voice, I looked up from my notebook to see Niijima-san staring up at me, with a rather strange, expectant look on her face.

She seemed to be looking at my rather active left hand—my other writing hand, which I occasionally used subconsciously. Mostly I used my right hand in public, but I was perfectly capable of using either, and often preferred my left hand when I was alone, deep in thought, or had no particular goal in writing. Being aware of it now, and of being watched, I nervously ceased its motions…

"Excuse me?"

"What are you going to make of this? Newspaper girl?"

"I-I… What do you mean?" I approached Niijima as closely as I could without attracting the suspicion of the officers.

"I mean of me," Niijima said plainly. "This arrest. Isn't everyone going to want to know about this? Isn't that why they're all watching? It's going to be this big scandal all around the school. They're all going to forget the finer details once it's over, and their memory will be overwritten by whatever impressionable words you write about it. So, what are you going to make of this?"

"Should I be worried about that?"

"Why does the newspaper club exist? Should they be worried about it? Are you worried about it? About telling the truth?"

"Hey, shut it!" growled the officer holding Niijima-san, shaking her by the arms. She grimaced, expressing indignation. I'd never worn handcuffs before, but I'd read about them online, and they were supposedly rather painfully constraining. I couldn't imagine how difficult this was for her…

The officers looked at me rather rudely. "Hey, missy," one of them spat at me, their saliva gracing my cheek. That was some far-reaching spit… "what the hell are you lookin' at! Get lost!"

Why single me out among the many others who were also watching this play out? Simply because I was closest? Whatever… I had no intention of challenging a cop, so I slowly backed away from the scene. After a short moment, the police led Niijima out of the school hallways. She held her head high, staring imperiously ahead, while ignoring anyone who came close.

I considered her words carefully. She was right. No one ever remembered the truth. But, I felt that she had given me a bit too much credit. My words weren't that impressionable… were they?

* * *

Akira was scowling in anger at hearing the story. "Damn those guys…" he muttered, unconsciously rubbing his wrists as he recalled the way they had treated him in the interrogation room. He could only imagine what they might have done to Makoto, until Sae rescued her.

"It seems my recollection of it had quite an impact on you," the newspaper club member noted, taking a small note in her book, then passing the pen from her right hand to her left and back again. Her ambidexterity was somewhat mesmerizing…

"I guess, you are her boyfriend… but, you already knew she was arrested… so…"

"I-I just didn't imagine it quite like that."

"I see…" She wrote a tiny note on the palm of her hand.

"What are you doing that for? Don't you have a notebook?"

"Yes, but…" the girl sighed a bit. "I just like writing notes in other places sometimes. It helps me mentally compartmentalize certain things."

Akira supposed this made sense. "Alright. So… anyway. What next?"

The newspaper club member placed her pen behind her ear, and resumed the story…

* * *

Niijima-san was expelled from Shujin Academy within the week. The Student Council now had no president, and the school had expelled their top student - it was truly an outrageous scandal. Soon enough, everyone was soon talking about it. Rumors began spreading like wildfire. I heard all sorts of voices, flying to and fro daily:

 _Expelled? Our president?_  
 _I don't believe it! Why the hell…_  
 _That must be a mistake. Or a lie._  
 _Niijima-san was a Phantom Thief?_  
 _Miss President? A criminal?! WHY?_  
 _Who's going to be our robot girl now… ?_

Shujin's staff requested an article intended to "disquiet the rabble rousers," and I finally had something interesting to write about—though certainly not something I would have preferred. And so the front page of that week's paper bore the headline, _**STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT EXPELLED IN SCANDAL.**_

It was a truly decrying story, and I almost hated myself for writing it. Almost. It was certainly information that needed to be out there, to be talked about. But at the same time, having been commissioned by the school, it did not paint the incident in a light which I felt accurate. I was concerned that all it would really do was rile people up.

And rile people up it did. It was when Niijima Makoto, the fallen star student of Shujin, was reported to not only have been a Phantom Thief, a misguided teenager—but a truly disturbed criminal who killed her older sister in a living room gunfight, that I began to be harassed. Tons of other students approached me to ask about it. Most of them asked rather frivolous questions: If I had personally known Niijima-san, ever gotten close to her, done anything else, had any clue why she killed her sister.

Some of them were overzealous "aspiring journalists," to whom I could relate to a degree, but had no time for. They were too lazy or apathetic to join the newspaper club and pursue their "dreams," making lame excuses whenever I asked if they had any interest in actually doing some work themselves. Some of them were bullies, or posited obnoxious inquiries about Niijima-san, or threats, or denounced me for being a "friend" of a "total psycho," or accusing me of "favoritism" in covering her story while writing about little else of interest for the school's paper.

I was not Niijima-san's friend by any means. I barely knew her, and had no idea why she would have done whatever she did. I simply had asked her a few questions from time to time for some monthly Student Council updates. And by no means was I "favoring" her story. I simply had nothing else worth writing about. At least not that I was permitted to write about, anyway.

Some of these people "admired" my writing and wanted to ask me out. I was not interested. I have never been interested whatsoever in romance. I have nothing against it, but it is simply not within the realm of my desires to be dating or experiencing sexual relations of any sort. I've only kissed one boy in my entire life, and the experience didn't convey any feelings to me, besides a sense of gross wetness.

I dismissed and ignored all of these bothersome persons. It was a good thing that hardly anyone was aware that Okumura Haru—also reported to be a Phantom Thief and to have died—had gone to Shujin as well. She was much more famous than Niijima-san, and had any of the students made any sort of connection, she'd have been a much hotter topic, I was sure.

Before long, I stopped writing about Niijima-san altogether. Not only was my work was not having the desired effect, but the students whose conversation I had rejected were now taking their inquiries to the teachers. The principal himself came and complained to me. The _nerve…_ The school had asked me to write this article, and now they were blaming me, because I had written it, and people had reacted? I was appalled, but there was nothing I could do.

And so Niijima-san's arrest, and subsequent departure from the Student Council, incited the first of three strikes against the Shujin Academy Newspaper Club's continued officialization. There was once again no reason to continue the club, other than to write about the Student Council and other miscellaneous activities. I would soon be graduating, and with the passing of my graduation, the newspaper club would be no more.

That is, if it even lasted until the end of my year. Principal Kobayakawa was by no means a good man, for letting what Kamoshida did go unpunished. But he had seen fit to let the Newspaper club go on, in no small part because I still provided a somewhat valuable resource to the student body. If schedule changes were to be announced, it could be done in the paper. If a teacher was retiring, you'd hear about it in the paper. Writing was the one and only thing I was really good at, and, in spite of the menial subject matter I was often handed, I had been grateful of being offered a purpose.

But now, Shujin's staff was threatening to deny me my purpose, for simply doing my job. I was, for the first time in a long while, truly _**vexed.**_

* * *

"But I don't think you would understand…"

"Actually I do," Akira said matter-of-factly, with a hint of quiet fury expressed in his voice, "I know exactly how that feels. To be fucked over by shitty adults…"

The newspaper club member looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"I said I know what you mean."

"Really?" She seemed quite intrigued. "What happened to you?"

"Long story," Akira replied, brushing it off for the moment and regaining his composure. "I'll tell you if we have time once you're finished."

"Hm, I'm quite curious about it. But anyway. I thought I'd just go back to regular updates on boring old school stuff, but I was approached by this other girl…"

* * *

"Excuse me!"

"I'm sorry," I spat curtly at the one speaking, not even turning to see their face. "I'm not interested."

"I don't want to threaten you or ask you out like all those other jerks!" the girl said, "I just want to talk about Makoto-senpai—she was my friend—"

I stopped in my tracks. As I've said, "friend" was one thing to Niijima-san that I most certainly was not. But perhaps discussing the former, deceased student council president with someone who had known them properly would benefit my perspective on the issue. With this in mind, I turned around. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I knew Makoto," the girl, who was pale, wore her black hair in a ponytail and was of a small build, said. "She saved me… from… someone bad. There's no way she would have…"

The girl began to cry. I felt rather sympathetic towards her plight. Assuming she was telling the truth, I could understand how terrible it might feel to have the entire student body spreading lies about your friend.

"What's your name?" I asked, "Let's go somewhere more private. The Student Council room, perhaps - I have a key. We can discuss this there."

* * *

The girl's name was Eiko. She told me the whole story: Niijima-san and her boyfriend, Kurusu Akira had saved her from an unscrupulous show host in Shinjuku. This man had attempted to hoodwink her into spending money on replacing a broken sake bottle so she would give into selling herself into prostitution. A rather disgusting ploy, I thought. I rather admired Niijima-san for standing against it.

If it were true, that is…

"So," Eiko concluded, "I don't think she would do something like kill her sister… or anything terrible…"

"So you think she may have been falsely accused in regards to being a Phantom Thief?"

"I… I don't know…" Eiko cried, "If she were a Phantom Thief… she must have had a good reason…"

"The Phantom Thieves supposedly killed that CEO," I reminded her, "do you think they had a 'good reason' to do that?"

"I don't think they killed that Okumura man." Eiko told me. "I don't think they were evil… there must be more to it. Will you please look into this?"

I carefully considered Eiko-chan's words. Certainly, I could agree with her on one thing - it seemed rather odd that the Phantom Thieves would kill. It was almost certainly as Akechi Goro had said at the Culture Festival—they simply weren't murderers.

"All right. I believe you." I stood up and collected my belongings. "I'll do what I can. If I can find someone to corroborate your story, I'll publish it in the next school paper. In the meantime…" I checked my watch. "Dekishi-san will be here any minute… you should go."

Eiko stood up and made for the door. Without warning, it burst open in her face and knocked her down.

"Hey! News girl!" the new Student Council President, Dekishi Misako shrieked. It bothered me quite a bit that the new Student Council president did not know my name, but then again, neither did anyone else. My name was quite a disgrace; one so ridiculous and foolish, yet so bland and generic, that everyone always laughed at it, then forgot it moments after I told it to them. So I had given up trying. There was no way I could tell anyone my name. There wasn't even a way I could tell you my name, seeing as you might forget it too.

* * *

"Why would I forget your name?" Akira asked, looking puzzled.

"I told it to you once or twice. Don't you remember it?"

Akira thought for a few moments. That was true… for some reason, he simply didn't recall…

"There's my point."

"I'm sure it's not that bad a name," he said optimistically. "It's probably just -"

"Trust me," the newspaper club girl replied, "it's a very forgettable name. May I continue telling what happened?"

Conceding that it didn't matter, Akira nodded and the newspaper club girl went on with her story.

* * *

I said nothing. Eiko was now on the floor, rubbing her injuries.

"News girl!" Dekishi-san said again. "I need you to knuckle down and get cracking on that _fabulous_ article about wonderful little ol' me!"

"Er…" Dekishi-san had been asking me to write so many such articles, I could never keep track. I personally believed this to be rather arrogant of her. "What ought I to be writing about this time?"

Dekishi-san's eccentric bright green hair was almost like a disco ball at a karaoke bar. Light seemed to bounce off of it, and her lipstick - red on the upper lip, black on the lower lip - was equally spellbinding. Her pale skin was almost immaculate, and her blue eyes shone like sapphires.

Overtop her Shujin uniform, she wore a ridiculously long scarf. It was orange, a ridiculously orangish orange which—sheesh, I don't know how else to describe it. It was an indescribable eyesore of orange. It was just so… _orange._ She always wore that thing, regardless of the weather, as if determined to daily assault my senses with it, but I ignored it.

"You were supposed to be writing about the upcoming implementation of my plan to lower the price of bread!" Dekishi shouted furiously. "And take a lovely picture of me while you're at it!"

"I don't have a camera…" I spat, annoyed by the new president's unreasonable requests. The Newspaper Club's photographer had quit, and I was a pretty shitty photographer myself. I could take photos with my phone I supposed, but they would probably look so terrible that it wouldn't be worth it.

"I refuse to accept that! I must have a picture! If you don't have a camera, I'll buy you one!"

Dekishi-san was especially irate today. She was usually irate anyway, naturally, given her long history with Niijima-san.

Before the scandal which was now bringing me so much attention and trouble, Niijima Makoto and Dekishi Misako had been Shujin Academy's top two students. Niijima studied diligently in the library every single day, while Dekishi would frequently talk up the other students and try to convince everyone how great she was. And always, somehow, by some absurd turn of fate, would wind up in the same class. And every single exam, two names would top the class results—Niijima Makoto and Dekishi Misako.

Occasionally, Dekishi would come in first. Sometimes Niijima would get the better of her. But those score differences never amounted to more than a few miniscule points. More often than not, the two would find themselves tied exactly. I wrote numerous filler articles about it for the paper—back when the newspaper club was three people instead of one. The student body was, on a whole, neutral on the matter, but every time Dekishi and Niijima passed each other in the halls, their competitive spirit was so tangible, it was almost like a frozen bullet hovering between them in midair.

In the previous year's election for student council president, they had been especially fierce with one another. I could still remember their heated debate clearly, when I had been interviewing them for the paper…

* * *

It was in early February of 2015. The previous Student Council president was soon to graduate from Shujin, and now the new one was being chosen…

"Roughly thirty percent of our students cannot afford to buy bread here. And those who can, often are unable to get it due to supply not meeting demand. There's a lot of talk about—"

"Oh, that's easy!" Dekishi-san interrupted, "I'll just buy more bread! Problem solved!"

"You… you can't just buy everyone bread," Niijima-san countered. "It's not—"

"Yes I can! I have lots of money! I don't mind sharing…" Dekishi moved her face closer to Niijima, and looked at her rather deviously. Niijima nervously put some distance between them. It was clear to me that she was trying to ignore her competitor's outrageous temperament.

Dekishi's parents were very wealthy individuals, whose immense fortune had been passed down from generation to generation. They worked in real estate, if I recall correctly, selling rather lavish properties to distinguished customers. As a result, she had a lot of pocket money and a high-standing social status, both of which she frequently exploited to get her way. She frequently disobeyed the dress code, ran in the hallways, and violated others' personal space. And yet the teachers constantly turned a blind eye.

"Anyway," Niijima picked up, "Our previous leader was very pleasant to speak to, reasonable, and well-collected. But he was very clearly unfit for the task in front of him and rather overwhelmed with responsibilities. Under his guidance, school clubs were consistently neglected and as a result most of them have disbanded due to lack of resources or members. It is my intention to—"

"Clubs?!" Dekishi-san yelled derisively, standing up, "Clubs are easy! The only reason why there aren't any clubs around is because the school hasn't got any money to support them!"

"So, you're saying," Niijima-san said skeptically, still sitting down and ignoring Dekishi's misconduct, "that you'll be able to buy more stuff for all the clubs, and that will solve everything?"

"Precisely!" Dekishi-san declared. "Track team can't afford new outfits, music club can't afford instruments, computer club can't afford computers, art club can't afford art stuff, photography club can't afford cameras—the list goes on and on and on." She sat on the desk and looked at me expectantly, leaving not much room to breathe between us. "Newspaper club can't afford to print more than three pages a week, I guess?"

"Uhh, no actually, we're doing just fine in that regard," I told Dekishi. "I don't have any more than three pages worth of stuff to write about. What's the real problem is we need a new teacher to head the club since the last one just quit—"

"I'll just hire a new teacher!" Dekishi-san said happily. "It'll be wonderful!"

"The Student Council President can't make hiring decisions," Niijima pointed out. "You're not the school board, or the principal, or—"

"Indeed," Dekishi-san said cheerfully, "I'm not any of those things. But I am wonderful, and everyone loves me!"

"Fine," Niijima spat, evidently quite annoyed but trying not to show it. "So you'll just give everyone money and 'love' and that will solve all the school's problems, you think?"

"That's exactly right! I'll fix everything!" She kicked off her shoes, sending them flying at Niijima-san, who caught them in surprise and then lined them up against the wall before continuing.

"Well, what about all the students constantly fighting with each other? They're ruining their academic future, but it can't be denied that—although we may not be quite certain of the reason—they're upset and need moral support. They don't care about money. You really think handing everyone a big fat paycheck is going to fix that? You can't run this entire school with your wallet!"

"Um," I said, nervously. The conversation was getting way off track. "This isn't really supposed to—"

"Ha, of course not!" Dekishi-san giggled, ignoring my attempt to realign the interview with the rails. She hung her bare legs off the desk, energetically swinging them to and fro. "They won't need money! They'll all be so happy to have little ol' me as Student Council President that they'll just all stop fighting!"

"Really," Niijima-san said sardonically. "I've got a tip for you, Dekishi-san. Get over yourself and act like a proper role model if you want to assume this position. Not everyone loves you. Get used to it."

Dekishi-san's face fell, and she dropped her cheery facade. Getting off the desk and standing up over her opponent, she stared Niijima in the face. The look in her eyes was absolute poison.

"You're _wrong,"_ she hissed. "You're the one no one loves!"

"Excuse me?"

"You're a little bitch, Niijima. What do you know about the students here? All you do is just sit and study in the library and be a little tattletale anytime you see anyone going against order. You get all the best grades, all the top spots on all the exam results from our class. You're just the teachers' puppet. And everyone absolutely detests you."

Niijima-san stood up to meet Dekishi-san's eyes with a furious grimace.

"But as for me," the other went on, "everyone's totally into me! I'm popular! I'm hot! I'm _filthy rich!"_ Dekishi accentuated those last two words with pride, as if they were a terrible sin to be proud of. She sounded like a femme fatale from one of those cheesy old American films I used to watch all the time. "Three things which you don't have, Niijima… all you have is a loser sister and a dead father!"

I wondered how on Earth Dekishi-san was aware of Niijima-san's family history, but I was now being completely ignored. Asking questions would only upset both parties in the conflict transpiring before me. Meanwhile, Niijima stared at Dekishi, clenching her fists…

"Are you going to hit me, Niijima-san?" Dekishi looked delighted by the thought. "By all means… I do _so_ love a good fight with a girl. It's such an excellent turn-on…"

Niijima was shaking with an absolute anger. It almost, almost seemed like she would oblige Dekishi's offer…

But instead she just turned towards me, gave a small, stiff bow, and left the room.

"As I thought," Dekishi-san laughed. "News girl! Make sure you got all this down in great detail."

"No," I said calmly, "I won't publish meaningless, haughty, holier-than-thou drivel, nor can I post what Niijima-san said in retort. This was a waste of my time." I hadn't gotten much good information about either of the potential presidents' intentions. All they'd done was insult each other, and it wouldn't make for a constructive article; it would only get everyone picking sides and tearing each other's throats out.

"Hmph!" Dekishi turned and left the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

From that point on, I always interviewed the two of them separately.

* * *

"This 'Dekishi Misako' sounds like a tremendous headache," Akira commented.

The newspaper club member nodded in agreement. "She's absolutely insane. I wish the Phantom Thieves had been made aware of her. Perhaps they could have changed her heart."

"Yeah, maybe that could be goo—" something suddenly occurred to Akira, and he thought things through a moment. _Didn't she say…_

"Time out for a second. Weren't you still suspicious of the Phantom Thieves? If you considered it a possibility that they may have killed Okumura, and that they were Shujin students as was often speculated, wouldn't you be concerned if they targeted Misako? Couldn't they harm her as well? Why would you wish the Phantom Thieves to target her if you believed that might be the case?"

"Well," the girl considered, "that may be true, that they are responsible for the mental shutdowns. But one thing I have noticed is consistent with most if not all victims of those incidents was that they were either high-profile individuals, or held some position in public services or government. Whereas smaller targets—unknown individuals, which included high school students such as Dekishi-san—did not experience any such accidents."

She clicked the top of her pen up and down, retracting the tip in and out for no apparent reason. Perhaps she liked the sound, or found the action to be cathartic. Perhaps both. She was a rather odd girl…

"As such," she concluded, "I don't think she would have experienced a mental shutdown, had she been targeted. I'm confident she would have been okay, and the change of heart would have much resembled the others reported. But besides that, it doesn't seem to make sense that they would kill such targets, and then waste their time on altering random persons throughout Tokyo. So it's not likely that they're the mental shutdown culprits anyhow."

"Well, alright then…" Akira was relieved that this girl had a level head and an open mind. "So, did you publish Eiko's story?"

"Hang on, now." The newspaper club member gave him a shrewd smile. "I'm getting to that…"

* * *

"Hey!" Dekishi-san shouted at Eiko, forgetting the article for a moment, "What are you doing in the Student Council room?! You're not supposed to be here!"

Eiko looked frightened. "Mi-Misako-senpai…"

"She's with me," I told Dekishi, firmly standing between her and Eiko. "Eiko-chan here was acquainted with Niijima-san, and wanted to talk to me about her after the… incident. She had a very interesting story. I'm considering writing an article in the school paper about it."

"Wha—" Dekishi was incredulous. She turned her nose up into the air snobbily. "You can't do that! I'm what's worthy of the front page right now! Niijima's dead , and she's old news! She was a fucking insane lunatic idiot who somehow stole a bunch of innocent people's hearts and killed her sister! I won't allow you to write such nonsense!"

Dekishi Misako ranted on and on for a long while about how great and lovely she was, and how terrible of a person Niijima Makoto had been. I rolled my eyes at this tirade and hardly paid it any mind. But Eiko gradually became more and more upset, and soon began crying…

"What's the matter?!" Dekishi screeched at Eiko. "Can't handle the truth about your precious Makoto-senpai?"

A fountain of tears streamed from Eiko's eyes. She was utterly bawling. She slowly and deliberately approached Dekishi-san, glaring at her furiously. Then, much to Dekishi's surprise as well as my own, Eiko slapped her in the face.

 _ **"YOU DIDN'T KNOW MAKOTO!"**_ she screamed at Dekishi. _**"DON'T ACT LIKE YOU'RE SO SPECIAL! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A BITCH AND AN ATTENTION WHORE!"**_ With that, Eiko turned and fled the Student Council room. Dekishi-san was stunned—it was clear that no one had ever acted that way towards here.

I couldn't help but crack a small grin, but after a moment Dekishi-san regained her composure. "What's wrong, news girl?!" she said, turning to me with an even more incensed expression than when she had originally entered the room. "You got something to say to me?" Dekishi stepped towards me in a challenging manner. I dispensed with the smile and backed away. But she kept advancing, grabbed my left arm tightly, and soon enough she had me right up against the wall.

"Uh—" I started. I wanted to say something clever, but I couldn't think of anything. Plus, I thought, what was the point? Dekishi-san wasn't going to listen to me.

So I said nothing and firmly closed my mouth.

"Ha, thought not," Dekishi spat scathingly. "Whatever." She switched over to her other, happier self, rubbing the bruise Eiko had left across her cheeks. "Let's start today's meeting!"

She prepared for everyone's arrival eagerly, and, within a few short moments, the rest of the Student Council filed in. They were all saying different things on the way inside, seemingly split on the matter of their new Miss President.

 _Miss President is so pretty…_  
 _She hugged me the other day!_  
 _She hugged everyone. I wonder why._  
 _I hear her parents are super rich and stuff._  
 _Whoa, really? Crazy shit, man! What do they do?_  
 _I don't know that I like the idea of her running the school…_  
 _She tried to kiss me… I pushed her away and she screamed at me._  
 _I preferred Niijima-senpai. She was so much calmer…_  
 _Niijima was a criminal! She deserved to be expelled!_  
 _But did she deserve to die? It's kinda sad..._  
 _I don't know. I think I'm fine with either._  
 _You just like it when girls tell you what to do._  
 _Misako-senpai just needs all our love!_

The Student Council meeting wasn't much of a meeting at all. Dekishi-san simply spat nonsense about how she was going to bring back all the clubs before the beginning of the next school year. High and mighty bullshit. She never let anyone get a word in, and the members of the Student Council were either aggravated, awed, or asleep.

After it had ended, I left the room and decided that I would need to verify Eiko's story. Despite the warnings from the principal, and what Dekishi-san had said, I had every intention of publishing it. Again, assuming it was indeed true.

I discreetly asked a few students what they knew about Niijima Makoto. None of them had any clue about her, though I learned that she had once been seen about a day before her expulsion speaking to a homeroom teacher named Kawakami. The teacher in question was responsible for the students in one of the second-year classrooms, classroom 2-D to be specific. I wondered why Niijima-san would be conversing with someone who didn't teach her class, so I decided to go talk to her first. So off I went to classroom 2-D.

As I went there, I carefully considered what my cover story would be…

* * *

"Your cover story?" Akira was baffled. "Why would that be necessary?"

"First rule of investigative journalism:" the newspaper club member said matter-of-factly, "Don't tell anyone who you are, and especially not why you're talking to them. Hardly anyone trusts a reporter who just comes along out of the blue investigating their business. When conducting interviews, it is of utmost importance that the interview doesn't feel like an interview. It should feel like a regular conversation." She winked at Akira. "I could be interviewing you right now…"

"But you aren't," Akira told her confidently. "A good journalist would never warn someone of the possibility that they're being investigated…"

"Well, maybe I'm not a good journalist," the good journalist suggested merrily.

"But you are one, aren't you?" Akira grinned understandingly. "Bad journalists ignore the important facts, and sensationalize everything to get readers. But you tell the public the truth. If you were a bad journalist, people would be reading your writing, and the school wouldn't have threatened the newspaper club with disbandment."

"Ha!" the newspaper girl chuckled amiably. "You do have a point there. Anyway…"

* * *

You might wonder, what if I were to be recognized? I was the only newspaper club member at Shujin. Wouldn't I stand out? Wouldn't that status make people wary of me, were I to go about asking strange questions about Niijima Makoto?

Well, not exactly. In fact, I would say being the only member of the club made me stand out less. Since I was the only newspaper club member, and hardly anyone ever read the school paper, most students and faculty barely knew that the newspaper club existed. They were reminded, when something big came up and I wrote about it, and then I would be recognized and bothered over it.

But it would be forgotten just as quickly as my bland name. My face was average, my plain red-framed glasses visually representative of society's general stereotype of a socially awkward nerd. Ha! I was anything but socially awkward.

No one would remember me as anything other than some girl with a pen and a notebook standing in the hallway. It wasn't a glamorous status, to be sure, but it was one that afforded me a great many opportunities. Since I appeared to be a blank slate, it meant I could write whatever I wanted on myself, as many times as I desired. And hardly anyone would think twice of it.

"Kawakami-sensei!" I called out from the classroom entrance, eager to get some answers about Niijima. Kawakami turned around.

"Oh, um, excuse me, er—I'm sorry, are you in my class?"

"Nope!" I replied quickly. "I just wanted to know, do you know anything about Niijima Makoto?"

"Niijima Makoto?" Kawakami looked baffled as to why I would ask that. "She… wasn't in my class. Is there a particular reason why—"

"I'm very concerned about her family and friends," I told Kawakami, trying to look a little worried. "A… another student expressed similar sentiments to me. We'd like to contact them if possible."

Kawakami seemed to accept my story. "Niijima-san had no known living family, other than her sister, who has also… passed…" She thought it through a moment. "It's tragic…" Kawakami was quiet and pensieve.

"Wait, what did you want to know? I'm sorry, my mind was wandering a bit there."

"Her friends, I suppose, if she has no family."

"I… Well, I did know a few of Niijima's friends… mostly those who were in my class…"

I approached the teacher's desk, then said in a hushed voice, "Could you tell me about them? Perhaps their names?"

"Hmm. In June, she started associating with some of my students," Kawakami recalled. "Specifically Kurusu Akira and Takamaki Ann. They were also known to have been meeting with Sakamoto Ryuji."

"The former track team ace turned troublemaker?" I was honestly a little surprised. "I never imagined Niijima-san would keep such company. I wonder, what on Earth were they doing… ?"

"Well, a lot of things, but I saw some of them quite frequently speaking with Mishima Yuuki about the Phan—"

Kawakami suddenly looked shocked, as if she had said something wrong. She uttered a soft _meep_ and covered her mouth.

"What? What fan?" I prompted. "Fan… Phan—oh, do you mean, the Phantom Thieves?"

"What—uh—no. Ah!" Kawakami appeared very flustered. "Uh, I must be going now. Good luck finding Niijima-san's friends." She turned and fled the room in a hurry.

I thought over what Kawakami had told me. _Kurusu Akira… Takamaki Ann… Sakamoto Ryuji…_ Yeah, I remembered those three. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen the three of them at school for quite awhile. Where were they?

* * *

"So… what did you do next?" Akira asked nervously.

"I asked more questions," the newspaper club member said plainly. "Just went around, listening to everyone… talking to a couple more people…"

Akira was nervous. This girl was smart. Too smart for a school journalist, one might think. If she put two and two together, she might have gotten the truth out of someone…

He wasn't too worried though. There was one important thing that set her apart from almost everyone who spoke against the Phantom Thieves:

The newspaper girl asked questions first and shot later.

* * *

"Mishima Yuuki." I finished murmuring to myself.

With that, I exited the classroom. Mishima… I'd heard of that person before. He was one of Kamoshida's victims. Didn't he have something to do with that Phantom Thieves website? He was the spiky-haired boy… yes, him. I'd never actually seen him talking to anyone…

Oh wait, no. I'd seen him speaking to Kurusu Akira. In fact, that was the only person I'd ever seem him speaking to around here… so how do I approach him…

I turned down the hallway, and saw him feverishly tapping away at his phone. He seemed pretty busy. Would he even bother to reciprocate if I spoke to him? Hmm, well, no time to think that through, I would just have to try.

"Excuse me… are you Mishima-kun?"

"Oh, uh—you're in charge of the newspaper club, right?" Mishima replied calmly, barely looking up from the screen. "I'm sorry, but I have no interest in joining."

"Uh—!"

Okay, so _some_ people knew who I was.

I was wondering if I had the right idea in mind. Mishima was a fan of the Phantom Thieves, right? Even though they weren't supposed to be the subject of this article, perhaps I could work my way towards Niijima Makoto by asking about them, especially if she was truly one of them. Though, perhaps they would make a more interesting story anyhow…

And besides, in a way, I had been investigating them already, ever since the Kamoshida incident. But the publication of any article conveying the information I had gathered had not been permitted, not by Principal Kobayakawa, nor his replacement. I had always been curious of my own accord, but I supposed the need to tell Niijima's story now made it official.

But I couldn't open like that… he'd be suspicious of me right away. So instead, I said, after a moment's hesitation—

"I'm not here to recruit you, Mishima-kun. I wanted to ask you about something. I'm a little worried about Kurusu-kun."

That got his attention. The black-blue haired boy almost dropped his phone in surprise. "Y-y-y-y-you know Kurusu Akira… ?"

I nodded earnestly. "Well, we aren't exactly close. He and I are friendly acquaintances. We chat occasionally about current events. But he hasn't been coming to school lately… do you know where I could find him?"

"Well," Mishima seemed to be thinking a moment. After a couple seconds, he said, "Akira lives in a coffee shop called Leblanc. However, he's gone missing, and the place was closed down for some reason. The owner's vanished too. I'm not sure why…"

A disappearing coffee shop owner. I had doubts that this would lead me to Niijima, as I had never heard of her drinking coffee before. But since she knew Kurusu Akira, the odds were strong that someone may have seen her there. It was a lead worth pursuing.

"Is there anyone else who works at this coffee shop," I asked Mishima, "or who knows him and lives nearby?"

"Oh, well," Mishima seemed nervous. "Well, yeah, but I've already been talking to them. Actually, I got all of his friends together, and we're looking for him. Except you, I guess." He held out his phone. "Do you want my number?"

"No thanks," I replied politely, "I'm bad at answering calls and texts." In truth, I didn't want anyone's number, if I could avoid it. I was perfectly adequate at responding to communications if necessary, but I much preferred to only do so if necessary. I was quite good at talking to people in person, but less so when only voice and text were involved.

"Ah, alright." He shrugged, not seeming to mind. "Well, anyway, he knows a doctor there named Takemi Tae. But I've already talked to her about him… she doesn't have a clue where he's gotten off to, or why the coffee shop was actually closed."

"That's a shame," I lamented sadly. It truly was. "Oh well, I'll be off now. Thanks a lot for your help."

With two solid leads—Takemi Tae and Leblanc coffee—perfectly in hand, I turned to leave the school. "Wait!" Mishima called, "Before you go. Are you a Phan?"

"A fan?" I turned around to acknowledge the odd inquiry. "I'm a fan of a lot of things, but, what in particular?"

"The Phantom…" he mouthed "Thieves" rather inconspicuously.

"Er…" I didn't know what to say. I wasn't quite a fan of the Phantom Thieves, but nor was I quite against them. Had they caused the mental shutdowns? Had they not? I remembered talking to that boy, Kurusu Akira, a good few weeks, ago…

 _I wonder what the truth really is,_ I had said. _Discerning what's true from what's not is a real challenge…_

That was as true now as it was then. Perhaps they were, perhaps they were not…

 _Get ahold of yourself,_ I thought somewhat sensibly, _you're supposed to write an article about Niijima Makoto, not the Phantom Thieves…_

But for the sake of getting on Mishima Yuuki's good side…

I smiled halfheartedly. "I am a Phan," I told Mishima. "I think they're still out there somewhere. They've gotta be. They must be planning something."

His face lit up like a Christmas tree. "I knew I couldn't be the only one!" Mishima was absolutely ecstatic. Beyond ecstatic—he was _euphoric._ It was as if the boy was high on rainbows. I wondered what that might feel like…

"Have you seen my Phansite?!" he asked excitedly. "I've been updating it all the time since they disappeared… but…" Mishima's tone dropped to a slow crawl, sounding sad and disappointed. "I haven't really gotten any good attention."

At hearing this, I perked up. _No good attention…_ It sounded quite a bit like what was I going through with the newspaper. Something I was passionate about, and updating as often as I could manage, pouring my heart and soul into, and hardly anyone cared about it. Come to think of it, if no one was reading, what was the point?

"So then… why do you keep updating it?" I wondered.

"Because I love it." Mishima looked very happy to have held my interest. "Because I really love it, and I'm passionate about it. I like running a website. Even if no one reads it, or leaves me obnoxious comments. They might be wrong, they might be right, and I feel it's my job to either prove them wrong or get better!"

"Hmm. I never thought of it like that…"

Though, to tell you the honest truth, I actually had. When I had first started writing, I had only wanted to do it for pleasure, because I loved it and wanted to keep doing it to improve, as Mishima was saying. But since I had joined the newspaper club here at Shujin, I had been beholden to expectations. Expectations which had begun to drown my passion…

"You do write the school paper, right?" Mishima asked excitedly, "I love your writing! Do you have a blog?"

"A blog…" I thought this through for a moment.

I personally wasn't much of a social media user, because I had heard all sorts of stories of young girls falling into inescapable states of depression due to addiction to the internet. I did have a small blog on a rather unpopular web service, but it hadn't been updated in many months, and I only had about four or five followers. My writing was mostly done in my notebooks, and on a small old typewriter in the student council room. _Perhaps I ought to conquer my fears of modern technology,_ I thought, _and branch out onto the internet._

It would certainly be an effective way to escape my confines as a writer in the school paper. "I might start one," I decided. "Would you have any tips for me, being the admin of the Phansite and all?"

"Err, the Phansite is the first and only website I've ever seriously worked on, and it isn't exactly a blog, so I wouldn't really have any great tips on that. All I really do is just post a bunch of poll questions and reply to comments…" he scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully. "But… I can tell you three basic general things, I guess. Update often, cultivate your community, and make it something you can stay passionate about!" He grinned at me encouragingly. "I'm sure you could do it!"

"Update often, community, passion…" I muttered, "interesting…"

Those were three things I didn't have at the moment. The school paper was supposed to update once a week, but I frequently missed deadlines due to lack of motivation. I had barely any readers, and I wasn't often passionate about what I was writing. _Until now…_

Yes, until now. With the threat of the newspaper club's disbandment hanging over my head, I felt a strong motivation… determination. And I realized… it could be, perhaps, because of Niijima Makoto. Because of the Phantom Thieves.

Were they bad? Good? I couldn't know, but one thing was for sure. I would like them to be good. I wanted to imagine the Phantom Thieves as heroes. And that image of them, I supposed, was all I would ever have, since they were all dead. Wasn't that all we ever had, of the unknown heroes of legend? Images. The actual people could have been truly rotten, but writers like me would inscribe them as heroes. It was up to the writers to tell the world what they thought, and up to the world to decide which of it was true.

Perhaps Eiko-san's story about Niijima-san was only a small, bright and happy portion of a larger, much uglier picture. But it needed to be written anyway, because it needed to be known that in the eyes of some, Niijima Makoto had been a hero. And it would have to be my job to tell that story.

"I might do it," I said cooly to Mishima, filled with even more enthusiasm than before. "It seems like fun."

"Cool!" Mishima said, still invigorated with positivity. "Well, if you do it, let me know, all right? I'll read it!"

I nodded and left. On the way out, I took out my smartphone and inputted "Leblanc coffee closed" and "Takemi Tae clinic" into a search engine. The results that showed pointed me to one particular neighborhood…

* * *

"You went to Leblanc?!" Akira said in surprise. "Where I live?"

"You still live there?" the newspaper club girl narrowed her eyes. "When I got there, it had a sign posted saying it was closed indefinitely due to a health violation. The lights were all off, and it looked totally empty. I find that hard to believe, that you were hiding in there."

She seemed very suspicious.

"You don't think…" Akira wondered, "that I… uh—"

"Think what?" She seemed a little confused. "Kurusu… er, Akira-kun. Are you alright?"

Akira thought it through a moment. Yeah… he was alright. She didn't seem to suspect his true identity. And even if she did, this girl wasn't Akechi. She wasn't anything like Akechi. There was no need for him to be apprehensive or concerned. After all, unlike in the case of Akechi, he had a choice of whether or not he wanted to speak and associate with her. But there was one thing…

"I'm fine," he assured her, "but you should know something. I prefer that my friends not use honorifics when they address me. You can just call me Akira." He smiled at her pleasantly.

"Oh. In that case, Akira. May I tell you the rest of my story?" She gave him a pleasant, trusting smile.

He nodded. "Sure."

* * *

 _The newspaper club member seems to trust me with her story…_

 _ **I am** **thou** **, thou art I… Thou has acquired a** **new** **vow.**_

 _ **It shall** **become** **the wings of rebellion that** **breaketh** **thy chains of captivity.**_

 _ **With the birth of the** **Art** **Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and** **new** **power…**_

 **You've unlocked the Art Confidant!**

* * *

When I arrived in Yongen-Jaya, I was impressed by how quiet it was. It was the sort of place I might prefer to live, as opposed to the cramped apartment in the tall, noisy commercial Shibuya complex where my mother and I lodged. There were several small shops and a few back alleys. The area was small, so it did not take long to locate Leblanc. Sitting nearby was a quietly rambling man who appeared to be quite drunk. I paid him no mind whatsoever.

 _Leblanc - coffee & curry._ It was a quaint little place, smaller than I had imagined. Considering the secluded location, I didn't imagine it got many customers, but also considering the size of it I figured it wouldn't be able to seat that many people anyway. And they served curry, huh? I wasn't allowed coffee, but I had never had curry. Perhaps I ought to come along and try it out sometime, if the place ever reopened.

The door was shut tight and a laminated notice read:

 _ **CLOSED BY THE JAPANESE MINISTRY OF HEALTH  
** **FOR MULTIPLE SANITATION VIOLATIONS AND UNSUITABLE WORKING CONDITIONS**_

"Oh," a woman's calm voice said from behind me as I read it. "It seems they came and put that stupid sign back up again. How persistent of them. And petty… I'm getting tired of throwing it out."

I turned around to see a medium-height young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties from the looks of things. Post-college, I would imagine. She wore a black jacket over a blue dress featuring a spiderweb, wore a necklace with a choker and possessed short deep blue hair in a rather sloppily done haircut. I found her appearance interesting. Her odd choice of dress made her stand out among the rest of the locals.

The woman approached the door to the cafe, tore the sign away from the glass onto which it was affixed, and tossed it into a nearby trash can in earnest.

"Who are 'they' exactly?" I inquired.

"Leblanc wasn't closed for any 'violations,'" she told me sadly. It seemed she hadn't heard my question. "I would know. I'm a doctor, and that cafe was healthier than my own office." She turned to me curiously. "Why are you taking such an interest in it?"

"Do you know Kurusu Akira?" I asked. "I'm looking for one of his friends."

The woman looked me over with a suspicious, analytical eye. "Huh, that uniform… You look like a Shujin student. Is there any chance that…"

"You said you were a doctor," I suddenly remembered, breaking her train of thought. "Are you Takemi Tae?"

"Oh! My, you've done your homework." The doctor looked impressed. "Why, yes I am, sweetie. But how do you—"

"A mutual friend of ours told me," I informed her.

"Oh?" Takemi seemed rather amused. "I wonder who let that cat out of the bag."

"Mishima-kun."

"I see…" Takemi shrugged. "Oh well, you're here now. Which of Akira's friends are you looking for?"

"Well, any of them, but specifically someone who knew Niijima Makoto. She was Shujin's Student Council president."

"I see… wait, what's this for?"

"I'm looking for something she left to me." Bit of a stretch, I supposed, but you could say Niijima left Eiko's story behind, to me, and I was looking for it… so far, so good.

Takemi thought it over for a moment. "Okay… that sounds personal. I guess I won't ask any more questions. What specifically do you want to know about her?"

 _Hmm… what might I ask about? Well, seeing as I'm here of all places…_

"Did she ever come around here? Around this coffee shop, specifically."

"She did, actually," Takemi recalled. "She came to see my guinea pig."

"Oh, you have pets?"

"Er, no… I mean, my assistant. Kurusu Akira. He's been missing for awhile… They were in love." Takemi stopped a moment. "Maybe that wasn't a necessary detail…"

"Oh, no, it was fine," I assured the doctor. Takemi's words made it highly likely that, unless Niijima had broken up with a past boyfriend (which seemed improbable to me, considering that Eiko's story hadn't been very long ago), Kurusu Akira was the boy with whom Niijima had come to Shinjuku on the day of the confrontation with that host. So far, things seemed to match up.

"Do you know if they had any other friends," I asked, "who might have any clue where I could find what Niijima left to me?"

Takemi thought a moment. "Yes, actually… there were a few people. Takamaki Ann and Sakamoto Ryuji, you already probably know, since they're students at your school." I nodded to confirm this, and she continued, "right… there would also be Okumura Haru, if only she weren't… gone… and there was a boy named Kitagawa Yusuke as well. He went to a different school. Kosei, I believe."

"Kosei…" I'd heard of it before. Wasn't it some kind of fancy prep school or something? I think my mother had considered sending me there, but considered it much too expensive.

"There was also a fellow student of Kitagawa's at Kosei, Togo Hifumi," Takemi added. "The Venus of Shogi, you might have heard of her. Akira was taking lessons on the game from her."

"Yes, there was a magazine article about her," I recalled. "Though it seemed focused on many unimportant details that had little to do with shogi."

I hadn't much liked that article, as it had appeared quite sensationalized. Togo Hifumi, from my impression of her, seemed simply like a girl who played shogi, and not some sort of teenage sex symbol. I had wanted to write my own article for the school paper which told more of her actual skills, but as Togo didn't go to our school, it hadn't been permitted.

"I didn't read that article myself," Takemi mused, "but it did sound quite frivolous from what I'd heard of it. Anyway, she might know something about Makoto as well, so you could try talking to her if you run into her."

"Thank you very much," I said gracefully.

But as I turned to take my leave, Takemi said thoughtfully, "Hm, talking about Akira reminded me, a real guinea pig might be pretty nice to have."

"What for?" I asked curiously, "some sort of medical experiment?"

"No, I already know almost everything about guinea pig physiology," Takemi clarified. "I mean as a pet. It would be… interesting. And remind me of him…"

"Anything else that you know?"

"Well," Takemi murmured… "there was that one time…"

"Oh?"

Takemi deliberated for a moment, but said nothing. "I'll just go now. Got a clinic to run." She turned and left, smiling. "You know, you remind me quite a bit of someone."

"Oh? Who might that be?"

"A reporter," Takemi answered, as she disappeared into the evening. _A reporter like me?_ I wondered, _could it be…_

"She has rather bad habits. Can't take care of herself very well." Takemi sounded rather disappointed. "It's a shame. She has such brilliant potential as a writer, but she has to waste it all in that bar… anyway, kid." Takemi stopped and craned her neck to face me. "I hope you get home safe."

With that, the doctor vanished into the alleys of Yongen. But I was a bit more surprised by what she had just said… Takemi knew her? _She_ was wrapped up in this too? _No way…_

* * *

When I arrived home, it was very late. The lights were turned off. When I turned them on, I saw my mother in our apartment's kitchenette, drinking a large glass of "healthy fruit juice." It was supposed to supplement her diet. I personally found it extremely disgusting.

She was wearing a rather large, messy bathrobe. "Pumpkin!" she yelled at me, furiously. "Where were you? Have you been seeing your aunt again?!"

"No, Mother," I told her, calmly taking off my winter jacket and hanging it up. I looked at her apologetically. "I was doing research for an article." Her hazel eyes were full of skepticism.

My mother was average and fair, almost the spitting image of myself, minus the glasses, and her hair a clean shade of autumn yellow. She and I looked quite alike, but could almost certainly not be any more different. She called me "Pumpkin" because when I was younger, I used to dye my hair a bright orange. (My natural hair color was blonde, which I utterly hated.) We had plenty of photos of it, and they all looked very silly. But the nickname stuck with me, and soon enough almost everyone in my family called me Pumpkin. So frequently, that I had begun to fear that my family had forgotten my name too.

(Not that it would matter. Everyone in the world could forget my name, and it would never matter to me. Should I ever need it for legal purposes, it was certainly still inscribed on my birth certificate and ID.)

"Really?" she wondered. "Well, in that case, maybe you should stop writing newspaper articles if they keep you up so late."

"We both know full well I won't do such a thing," I replied simply, not looking at her as I got an egg out of the fridge, cracked the shell between my fingernails, then tilted my head upwards as I swallowed the raw yolk.

She was not the most sensible woman. In fact, most of my family was not sensible. I held a strong personal belief that the only truly sensible people in my family were myself, and my aunt, whom my mother forbade me to see. The two of them never quite saw eye to eye, primarily due to their disagreement in the matter of her lifestyle. And so I was never permitted to visit her. I still did anyway from time to time, but were Mother to find out, I would be…

Well, usually nothing. My mother wasn't good at discipline. She had little self-discipline herself, and frequently procrastinated. She also wasn't very imaginative, and nearly every potential punishment she ever came up with either went against her values, or would inconvenience the both of us in some manner which she wasn't willing to deal with. The most I ever got from her was a stern lecture.

Like right now…

"That's a waste of egg," she told me reproachfully. "You know I could just make dinner for you."

"You always burn dinner," I reminded her. To be honest, I hated raw eggs. I couldn't understand their common appeal in Japan. But they certainly tasted much better than my mother's atrocious cooking. "And since you still won't let me touch the stove, even though I'm very nearly of age—"

"You could burn this whole apartment complex down!"

"Could, yes," I snapped, as I washed out the taste of the egg yolk with some cold water. "But I wouldn't. I'm not a baby, Mother."

I moved to throw away the eggshells, but my mother's grip stayed my hand.

"I can use those. We don't throw away food here." She guided my arm to the plastic tub marked _leftovers._ "I shouldn't have to remind you, Pumpkin."

"Right…" I reluctantly opened my palm, dropping the eggshells into the plastic bin, along with pieces of cake, soggy ramen noodles, two-week old bits of half-chewed onigiri, the gutted eye of a fish which I had picked out of my lunch several days ago—as well as many other disgusting, old and/or inedible items. Such things being reheated and served to me as meals was not uncommon. My mother was a strange, eccentric woman, and a truly terrible cook. But even so, I much preferred living with her as opposed to my father…

"Thanks, honey," Mother said, pleased by my obedience. "What's this 'article' about?"

"It's… it's a story from about the…" I slowed my voice to a crawl as I hypothesized my mother's reaction.

She did not much like the Phantom Thieves at all. To be fair, hardly anyone did. But, if I were to tell her about my investigation of Niijima Makoto…

When Niijima-san had been expelled, my mother had been extremely alarmed. She had met Niijima before, though not formally, and had formed a good opinion of her based on those encounters. But after the revelation that the Student Council president was a Phantom Thief, she had made several urgent phone calls to the school board at Shujin asking how they could have allowed her daughter to associate with such a person.

She was evidently not the only one who had done such a thing. The board had ultimately called a parent-teacher meeting, to which she had been invited, in order to discuss the issue. The media also got involved, especially following the beginning of Niijima's case and having continued for a short time after her death. It all built up to quite a truly troublesome PR disaster for Shujin Academy.

If I told the truth, my mother would probably scold me, then fear for my safety, make more phone calls, and perhaps pull me out of Shujin altogether. That was something I had absolutely no interest in causing, and even less interest in experiencing. It was true that I wasn't too fond of Shujin and its monotonous routine, but it was still my school. I knew the place well. I knew the people there. I couldn't just leave it behind.

"It's about the Student Council President," I finally said. Not technically a lie. "But don't worry; the school doesn't want me to write about Niijima anymore," also the truth, "and our new President wants me to write an article to..." well, one small lie was probably fine... "help ease the student body's minds after Niijima's expulsion and... death. To that effect she's been asking me to look into the prices of bread, musical instruments, and other such items that need to be replaced or restocked for the students of Shujin." And one last truth to round it all out.

"I see." My mother seemed satisfied with this explanation. "But that still doesn't explain why you were out so late."

"I went to a coffee shop on the way home," I told my mother.

"A coffee shop? You know you're not allowed caffeine…"

"I… I only ordered a plate of curry."

"They serve curry at coffee shops? My, my, Tokyo continues to surprise me even after living here for so long. I must try it sometime."

"It was lovely," I assured her, though I had never had curry in my life, and had no clue how it would taste. Though certainly still better than my mother's cooking…

"Anyway, Pumpkin, you should be off to bed now." Though she said so in a kind tone, she aimed a rather imposing expression at me, which very clearly conveyed that this was a non-negotiable situation. I didn't like going to bed. Hmm.

"Very well, Mother." I bowed politely and entered my bedroom. There, I sat down on my bed, kicked off my shoes and socks, and gently massaged my tired bare feet. Reporting took a lot of walking, talking, lying… or, well, half-lying. It was rather draining. I didn't much like walking, and would have preferred to ride a bike, but my mother wouldn't let me have one.

I wondered why there were so many things I didn't like. I didn't like walking, eggs, my mother, my school, people, kissing boys, or any number of other things I've not yet named. Yet I'm almost certainly not what you would call a pessimistic person. In fact, I'm a rather optimistic human. It's just that I happen to dislike quite a few things. The only thing I truly liked… my one true love… was journalism. It was, as I've said, the only thing I was good at.

I was both exhausted and rather reinvigorated by the day's events, and for the first time in several months, I was seriously looking forward to writing. Tomorrow, my love and I had a date, and it was going to be a very exciting date indeed.

* * *

 ** _[links not here b/c duh. Go to AO3 if you wanna find em.]_**

 ** _First off, I now have a Ko-fi page you can throw "coffee" at if you think my writing is worth paying for... for some reason. (Can't imagine why :P) But anyway, anything donated will go towards me, Mac, food and things, keeping me alive, doing cool stuff, and making it easier to spend more time creating stuff like this and improving my writing. So if you'd like to help me out and have a little extra cash, I hope you'll consider throwing a few cents my way. If you don't, no hard feelings. I like writing this, and the fact that you're reading it is making me happy enough ;) I'm also planning to post more original stuff to Tumblr. Going to try to get at least one short story/essay thing up there maybe every other day. So there's also that. Dunno if there's actually any interest in any of this, but I'm gonna try it out._**

 ** _Sooo I see a lot of people talking about the newspaper club member. Saying she should have been a confidant, or done this, that, or the other, etc etc. Somehow have been relevant. At one point in the game she talks about the newspaper club being close to disbandment, and a lot of people wondered what the story was there. Myself obviously being no exception. And I looked around... but... there are no fics about her! So I decided to make my own interpretation of her and work her into the story._**

 ** _The plan here is to have two or three chapters about her investigation of Makoto. She'll make another small appearance once or twice here, before I'll end this fic, and spin her off into her own full fic, which will be separate from this one. I've got the story of the remaining chapters outlined, though I have not too much clue how many chapters it will take to tell the story I've got in mind. Trust me, though, it will be a wonderful story. Or at least as wonderful as Mac and I can make it._**

 ** _A particularly big but exciting challenge here was defining her personality and history, cause, in the game, you see, she doesn't have one. She's an informational NPC who evidently simply exists to help catch people up if they put down the game for a bit and come back wondering what the hell's goin' on again? I realized that I would need to create her from scratch, pretty much, since there are no real clues to go by. So, because I create odd characters, I created an odd character. Bits of me, bits of other people, bits of other cool characters I've seen in other films. Her deliberate namelessness, and the way she talks about it, was inspired by the protagonist "XXXX" (played by Daniel Craig) in the movie_ Layer Cake. _I also borrowed personality traits from real people I used to know, in particular one of my past teen crushes who was also a writer, and also left-handed like myself. Except Newspaper Girl is clearly shown writing with her right hand in the game, so I made her ambidextrous because that's just fucking cool._**

 ** _Our replacement president was also a little challenging to figure out. Misako's personality is basically, obnoxious rich bitch, Genki girl. Empathy problems, no respect for anyone but herself etc. Y'know. That kinda character archetype. Her temperament was heavily inspired by that of Haruhi Suzumiya, and I generally tried to make her Makoto's total opposite apart from intellect. (Intellect which, btw, she is totally wasting.) And yeah, Makoto, Misako, that's not unintentional. Dekishi means "drowned," and, depending on the kanji used Misako could mean "truth, sea, sand, beauty, child," or a number of other things. So her name is meaningful as well. I also thought of Victoria Chase from the game_ Life is Strange _and all the Heathers in_ Heathers _, though, especially Heather Chandler since she's the leader of the clique in that movie._**

 ** _dunno if all these editor's notes are actually interesting or these characters are actually good, but I'm tryin' my best here so. Thanks as always!_**

 **SBM: It's always fun creating an OC. What's not as much fun is trying to cram them into a pre-existing story. Dekishi wouldn't have been created if a new SCP wasn't needed, and while we started with an archetype, I think she's pulled away from that well enough for her introduction here. A few of the nuances she has makes her seem a bit unhinged, like she's trying her damnedest to get Makoto to love her, while also hating Makoto's guts for being the "dependable honor student" compared to her rich, "love me please and let me hate you" personality. A friend of mine had a girlfriend like that in High School. When they broke up, she clung to him, while also shouting abuse and obscenities at him. Dekishi is... likely the better person compared to that girl. And thanks, Josiah, for letting me help on what her personality is like!**

 _ **ff specific formatting notes: On AO3, I was able to make the letters in the new Confidant thing red. Can't do that here. So it's not done. Furthermore, in the chapter title there is actually a star in between the Japanese kanji (which fyi translates to "Newspaper Girl") and the subtitle. FF does not like stars. Duly noted.**_


	26. 新聞 女 And A Super Cool Aunt

**_Soooo... to fully experience this chapter you kinda HAVE to read it on AO3. I did a bunch of formatting style shit that doesn't translate over to FF, putting in stars, music notes, etc, coloring them certain ways to make it look like the way it looks in P5. But I can't do that here, and even if I just try to type the characters without the fancy coloring its autospamfilter is like "NOPENOPE we don't like that crap." Annoying, but it is what it is. Anyway, it's still here so you can read it here. I just don't recommend reading it like this, but whatever._**

* * *

"So… let me get this straight," Akira started in stunned disbelief. "You…"

The newspaper club member stared at him in nervous anticipation. "Yes?"

"You… you've never… had curry before?"

She blinked, surprised at what he was saying, before looking at him strangely. "Is that a problem?"

"No! No, not at all," Akira told her hastily, "it's just that, well, curry is delicious!" He rummaged around in his bag and pulled out a small lunchbox. "I brought some for my lunch. And as it happens…" he retrieved a spoon, "I brought a spare utensil, so we could share this! Do you want a taste?"

"Er…" she seemed a little hesitant. "I'm not sure if…"

"It's Leblanc's specialty curry." Akira gave her a charming smile, and, holding the lunchbox, extended his hand towards her invitingly. "Only my guardian and I know how to make it. It's our secret family recipe."

Newspaper Girl nervously reached out and took the container with her right hand. Opening it up, she took in the smell of it. Her reaction seemed very pleased, and excited…

"It's still warm…"

"Thermally sealed," Akira explained. He offered her the spoon, and she carefully took it. The young journalist then dipped it into the curry and lifted it to her mouth. Upon closing her lips around the food, she looked rather surprised…

"It's… it's delicious. I've never tasted anything like this before…"

"Totally beats your mom's awful cooking, right?" Akira's happy smile was best described as debonair.

She nodded slowly. "It's really quite yummy. Can you tell me how to make this at home?"

Akira shook his head, wearing an apologetic smile. "Trade secret. Sorry, Boss's orders." He took out his own spoon and ate a bit of it himself. "But you could try to copy it at home…" He winked at her. Taking the lid of the container, he divided the curry up and put an approximation of half of it onto the lid, leaving the rest for the newspaper club member.

He sat down on the floor, putting his back against the wall. Newspaper Girl did the same. As they ate lunch together, Akira asked, "So… you could have gone to Shinjuku, got the information you needed, and finished the investigation about Eiko's story right then and there. You'd gotten myself and Makoto's names, and you had a good basis on which to believe that it happened. So why didn't you just do that, and complete your article straightaway?"

His honest curiosity surprised her, and stirred her earnest heart as she smiled, preparing to once more dive into her story, and her curry…

[music notes cut from FF version.]

"I'll explain why in a bit…"

* * *

I wasn't certain why exactly I was following the paths of the Phantom Thieves. As I said, it was because I felt the need to tell their story. But I felt like I was somehow… _connected…_ to them. It was more than telling their story… it was… finding their souls, somehow. I couldn't be sure how, or why, I would have been chosen for such a thing.

I recalled what Kurusu Akira had told me quite awhile ago… Before he disappeared. He had told me, regarding the Kamoshida story, _It's already over. You're desperate, aren't you?_

He'd been right. I'd been very desperate…

Perhaps this was his way of saying…

I didn't know, but I couldn't sleep. I wanted to do more searching. So I sat up in bed and took out my phone.

"Kurusu Akira" turned up some unsurprising results. I was already well-aware that his criminal records had been leaked onto the internet months ago, when he first came to Shujin, spurring many rumors about the school. There were a good few results from some online student forums talking about how terrible he supposedly was. Having good reason to doubt those allegations, I simply skipped past them…

"Sakamoto Ryuji" yielded hardly anything useful. A few old school paper articles I'd written about his time on the track team. I'd almost forgotten about those. I bookmarked them for posterity and moved on.

"Kitagawa Yusuke" got me a few pages from past student exhibits featuring art credited in his name. There was one interesting painting among them entitled "Desire and Hope." A rather curious creation, I thought. But nothing too interesting.

I didn't bother searching for Niijima Makoto for obvious reasons. Searching for Okumura Haru was also unnecessary. That left only one other name…

"Takamaki Ann…"

Within a few moments, I found myself at the website of a magazine called Vague. In their archive was a feature from earlier this summer entitled "Up and Close With Two Popular Models!" I'd heard of this magazine, but never really read too much of it.

That's right. I had tried to write something of this…

The photos featured prominently two young woman: a familiar-looking blonde teenager with her hair done into huge pigtails, and a pretty, poisonous-looking long-haired brunette with a nice pearl necklace and a blue dress. The captions on the photographs read, "Takamaki Ann and Arashi Mika."

Takamaki and Arashi were doing all kinds of ridiculous poses in the pictures, in various locations around Seaside Park. One shot in front of the bridge, one with them leaning against the rails in front of the water, and another of them feeding seagulls. Right below a sign which read, DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS. I chuckled. It seemed no one ever followed that rule.

Despite their smiles, the more I looked at the pictures, the more I could sense a competitive spirit between the two. It was not unlike the case of Dekishi and Niijima. Every photograph featured more outrageous, sillier, supposedly "sexier" poses than the last. It was almost as if they were trying to outdo each other.

"Perhaps…"

But I was too tired to keep looking. Against my will, I found myself falling asleep…

* * *

When I woke up, there was a single email awaiting me in my inbox. I took a look… it said "model" and "school" in the subject line, but I was tired, and didn't read it any further beyond that. It didn't sound very exciting. Upon further examination, I noticed that it came from Dekishi-san, and so I deleted it.

Dekishi Misako's emails were usually one of three things. They were either pointless news items not of interest to me, long and unprovoked abusive tirades directed at other groups of people (which I often had nothing to do with, but was frequently cc'ed in), or recaps of Student Council meetings (which were pointless, since every Student Council meeting was a one-sided ego trip for her).

Casting my phone aside, I quietly approached my closet and began dressing myself. There was nothing particularly exciting in my wardrobe. I had a whole lot of spare uniforms in there. During off school time, my outfits were ridiculously ordinary. Simply a plain shirt, shoes, whatever. Even when I wasn't a member of the newspaper club, I blended into the crowd…

Sometimes, I got the odd sense that perhaps everyone looked more or less the same. It was almost certainly my imagination, but, I could never be certain. The more I thought about it, the more I saw something… distorted… in the world. It seemed very wrong. I didn't like it at all.

But, then, why was I unwilling to do something to make myself stand out among others? Somewhat like those two models, Takamaki Ann and Arashi Mika.

I didn't understand why anyone would want to be a model. It seemed like an extremely stressful job. But, way back in March, near the end of the previous school year and shortly before the Kamoshida incident, I had attempted to gather an understanding. I asked Takamaki Ann for an interview.

She said no, and the proposition of the article was rejected by Principal Kobayakawa anyhow. Thinking back on it now, I couldn't help but think it had something to do with Kamoshida. Considering the content of the confession he would later make, it would stand to reason that she was trying to keep out of the attention of the other students.

Interesting. A model, whose literal job it was to attract attention, going out of her way to avoid it? As I considered this, it occurred to me that Takamaki perhaps did not think as highly of herself as one might assume. But… I opened the magazine feature on my phone once more…

It would seem that the other person, Arashi Mika, did think quite highly of herself. She had a very charming, yet smug smile in every single one of the photographs.

Something caught my eye in the background, and I zoomed in on a familiar head of black hair. A boy with glasses…

Kurusu Akira had been at this photoshoot. Which meant he was there for Ann. Or perhaps there for Mika. I couldn't help but wonder why the photographers hadn't asked him to move out of the frame. Perhaps they simply hadn't noticed. Was it his intention to be in this picture, or had he simply wandered in by accident?

In any case, I supposed I would find out at school later. Finally fully dressed and ready to go, I picked up my notebook, my pen, and left. Thankfully, my mother was still asleep, so I avoided any of her pestering. And her food.

* * *

After a short time investigating, I learned that Kurusu Akira had been frequently seen texting in class over the course of the school year. If he was noticed by Ushimaru-sensei, he was called out and had a piece of chalk tossed at him. This, he would expertly dodge with ease. But, he hadn't been the only one.

Takamaki Ann texted in class as well, often at the same time as Kurusu.

Takamaki Ann had been Niijima Makoto's friend. And Kurusu Akira's friend. And…

Hmm, I knew no one in any of those people's classes. Except…

* * *

"Was Niijima ever seen… texting in class?" I inquired.

"What?!" Dekishi-san seemed rather irritated by this interruption. "News girl, what kind of question is that? We need to focus on our work!"

The "work" in question was filling in a bunch of numbers on a spreadsheet to allocate school funds for the price of bread in a potential budget plan. "School funds," of course, including Dekishi Misako's precious wallet. Furthermore, there was no "we" about it, seeing as I was the one doing all the work here.

Dekishi-san was sitting on the desk, messaging someone through a social media app. I could see all kinds of obscenities on the screen over her shoulder, swarmed by red and blue emojis, and exclamation marks in places where they didn't belong. Surely she was satisfying her bizarre kink for abuse.

"I was just wondering," I told Dekishi, plainly and calmly.

"You're not searching for information about that _'article'_ are you? I TOLD YOU VERY CLEARLY—"

"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of that. It's just that," I paused a moment to make sure my story sounded believable, "I saw someone who gets very good grades texting and slacking off in class." This wasn't untrue, as, although it hadn't happened today, or anytime recently, I had certainly seen it happening in the past. "So I was wondering if even Student Council Presidents slack off once in awhile."

"Well, if you need an example, little ol' me's all you need, right?" Dekishi returned, as her phone screen was swarmed by a series of furious replies which denied her various accusations and insults. "I never text in class! I'm a perfectly upstanding student!"

I highly doubted this to be true, considering how many rules she broke, and got away with breaking, on a daily basis. It occurred to me that Dekishi-san was probably not a reliable source of information, and I should probably pursue intel elsewhere. But seeing as this conversation was already initiated…

"Oh, no, your _upstanding example_ is not enough," I said in a slightly pompous tone, "I need multiple known instances of different presidents slacking off, so that I know this is a particular habit of student council presidents, and not just generally applicable to all students."

"Wha-what is this?!" Dekishi-san stopped sending her abusive messages and turned to me expressing extreme, indignant suspicion. "This has gotta be for a newspaper article! I don't trust you!"

"No," I told her, "it's a psychology study." _Studying your psychology in particular._

"I-I don't believe that!" she spat, "but… wait…" Dekishi-san seemed to realize something. "It doesn't matter," she said, and her attitude took a total one-eighty. "Yeah, I saw Niijima texting in class lots and lots. She was hardly ever paying attention to anything that was going on. I can't imagine how she got such high grades to rise to a similar level as me! She must've been copying my answers!"

Dekishi gave me a happy, triumphant smile. "Put _that_ in your newspaper article!"

"It's not a newspaper article," I maintained firmly. Dekishi's only response was a small smirk and a scoff. She still didn't believe me.

She was probably going to have a fit when she found out what I was really planning, and, though the interview with her was probably useless, that excited me very, very much.

"Say, news girl, did you get my email?!" Dekishi-san suddenly shouted at me in a demanding tone.

"What email?"

"About the model!" Dekishi seemed very excited. She jumped up and down energetically. "There's a model coming to our school! They're doing some sort of photoshoot here! I'm so psyched! I wonder what she'll be wearing. She's so sexy!"

"Do you even know her name?" I wondered. Dekishi-san seemed to be a little… over-excited.

"That I don't," Dekishi admitted. I wasn't sure what to think of this. "But who cares whatever her name is? OMIGOSH, she's going to be so good to look at… I saw a few pictures of her online and she's _sooo_ tasty!"

I continued crunching the numbers for the bread. I wasn't interested in the model. Nor was I interested in whatever Miss President was planning to do, if anything. So I simply ignored her…

* * *

After school let out, I went to ask the track team questions about Sakamoto Ryuji, but they didn't recognize me and so told me to fuck right off. That I did.

I then wandered outside to find a pretty young brunette being photographed by a small crew. She was wearing a schoolgirl outfit, except several liberties had been taken with the general design of an actual schoolgirl outfit for aesthetic purposes.

The model was making all sorts of silly poses, and there were a lot of curious students watching. I looked around, but, despite the implications of her earlier speech, Dekishi was not among them.

"Mika-chan, turn this way!" I heard someone shout. _Mika-chan… ?_

"You look like a real schoolgirl!" someone else declared excitedly. "It's mesmerizing! I knew Shujin was a perfect choice for this!"

The brunette made some more poses at the direction of the photographer, occasionally changing her position or accessories. Sometimes wearing glasses, sometimes not, waving, blowing kisses, holding a schoolbag or not, and various other things.

"Maybe next we can have you dress as a teacher!"

"I would love to!" the woman replied in a happy-go-lucky sort of voice. "This is making me so happy! I feel like I'm a high school sweetheart again!"

"Actually," said the photographer, "I think we're out of time. That's gonna have to wait till tomorrow."

"Awww man… !"

"Ah, such a shame! I was sooo looking forward to it," the brunette told them. "We'll just have to wait for next time!" She winked at all of them.

The model turned away from the camera, and broke character, now looking thoroughly tired out. As she walked away from the scene of the shoot and came in my direction, I saw her face clearly. There was no mistaking it. This woman was Arashi Mika, the one who had appeared in those photos with Takamaki Ann. Perhaps she would know something.

"Excuse me!" I called out. "Arashi-san?"

At being called, Arashi Mika turned around and initially looked cross, but, seeing me, quickly adopted her bubbly facade from earlier. "Oh, hello there! Do I know you?"

"I don't think so," I replied. "May I have a few moments of your time? I want to ask you something."

"What might you want to know?" Arashi said in a singsong voice. "How to get into modeling? Perhaps the best way to emulate my style? Or how to keep yourself so slim? I wouldn't worry about that. You look lovely as you ar…" Her speech trailed off as she scanned me from head to toe. "Actually… you don't look like you're interested in modeling."

"I'm not," I confirmed, trying to keep my voice from getting dry with irritation. She was starting to get on my nerves a little. Arashi Mika acted nice enough, but she seemed to have a pretty big ego. I'd walked up to her, simply said "excuse me," and she'd instantly assumed that this was all about her. I decided to correct her thinking before this conversation got out of hand. "I wanted to ask you about Takamaki Ann."

"Oh… I see." Arashi looked a little disappointed at first, but the expression was fleeting. "Well, I'm afraid Takamaki will be… gone for awhile. She's not really been around lately. Could you please excuse me?" She attempted to push past me, but I moved to block her path.

"I…"

I had no relation to Takamaki. How was I going to get her attention?

"What?" Arashi said, looking a little annoyed. "Why are you standing in my way?! Come on, spit it out!"

Did I need to tell a total lie to get Arashi to take me seriously? Surely not. Surely I could come up with something… and then I had it.

"I'm dealing with a very concerned family member here," I said firmly to Arashi Mika. "If I don't find out what happened to Ann soon, they'll be calling me and everyone I know for answers. Won't you please help me?"

It wasn't technically a lie. I was referring to my mother. She was very concerned, although concerned without good reason, and if I did not find what I needed to know and go home soon, I would be in a bit of trouble.

Arashi, interpreting it the way I had intended, turned around in surprise. "You're… you know her family? I suppose…"

"What's happened?"

"Um…" Arashi seemed a little caught off-guard. "Well… you seem pretty genuine. I suppose I could tell you."

My ploy had worked. I was delighted, though I tried my best to express that as relief.

"Thank you, Arashi-san!"

"Oh, please, call me Mika," she noted pleasantly, "No honorifics. Let's go to Big Bang Burger. I'll treat you."

"Alright, then, that sounds good." It didn't, actually. I'd only ever eaten at Big Bang Burger once many months ago, and I found the food to be nothing remarkable. After Okumura's confession and death, I couldn't bring myself to eat there again. It seemed wrong. Nonetheless, I accepted Mika's offer anyway, because refusing her could turn her off of wanting to talk to me.

* * *

"Yes, that black-haired glasses cutie was with her, but I don't really know who he was. Friends? Schoolmates? Didn't really think about it too much. They certainly didn't look like lovers…"

Mika had bought me a burger, fries and a milkshake, none of which I was bothering to eat. She hadn't ordered anything for herself, which puzzled me quite a bit, since she was the one who suggested that we eat here to begin with.

"Am I to understand," I said, in a somewhat frustrated tone, "that you don't know anything about Takamaki outside of what happened at your work with her?"

"No! What, you thought we were friends or something?" Mika laughed. "No, we were just co-workers. Why are we even talking about this?"

"What happened to Ann?" I asked firmly, annoyed. Mika had been dodging this question since our conversation started, and it was rather irritating.

"Hmm… well, about a week ago," Mika told me, "she was doing modeling in Shibuya, and a construction site accidentally dropped some stuff on her pretty little head. They redid the shoot the next day and brought me in to replace her. It was great!"

"Great?" I repeated in disbelief, finding her attitude about the situation rather odd. "What made it great?"

It looked like Mika didn't really care about Takamaki. She seemed quite egotistical beneath her happy childlike facade, her only motivation being to get more popular. I didn't like her attitude much…

"What about Ann," I asked, "aren't you said that she died?"

"Well, it is sad," Mika replied plainly, "but it's not like I can do anything about it but capitalize on my opportunities. It's just the way things are."

This didn't make sense… but I decided to let it go. If Arashi Mika wished to be apathetic and take advantage of her competitor's death, I decided there was nothing I could say to change her opinion. I moved on with my other questions.

"So why do none of the other models besides you know about this?"

"I don't know," Mika said boredly, "No one told anyone." This conversation clearly did not interest her much. "Ann hasn't appeared in any magazine features since it happened. Funny thing actually, Ann didn't show up to a shoot on the 19th of November… wasn't that the day before the Phantom Thief killed himself?"

Before the Phantom Thief killed himself? Aha…

My suspicions were all but confirmed. The Phantom Thieves were all missing. All disappeared. Three were known to have died, now—Niijima, Okumura, and Takamaki. Could it be that… ? I shook my head. It couldn't… could it? Could it. I would have to figure it out.

"Can't they just make some sort of statement?" I wondered. "About Ann, I mean."

"Well, they are," Mika explained, "that's why I'm doing the photoshoot at Shujin. They're announcing that one of their models died, and that she was a Shujin student. But, in honor of her memory, one of their most popular models is dressing up as a schoolgirl! They think it's gonna be great."

"And, what exactly is your opinion on that?" I asked. "Do you also think it's going to be great?"

"I don't know!" Mika said, annoyed, "why are you asking me all of these demanding questions? Jeez, I don't think about these things! Plus, you haven't eaten your food! What are you trying to pull here?"

"I…" I sighed in great exasperation. "Why don't you eat the food then? Why didn't you order any food for yourself?! You're the one who wanted to come here!"

"I…" Mika began fake-crying. "Because I can't eat this stuff! I'd get _FAT!_ I need to look perfect for all my photoshoots! You're so mean… I thought you would like eating here… but you ended up wasting my money!"

"Like sixteen hundred yen," I retorted. "Why's it such a big deal, anyway? If it really mattered that much, I'd pay you back. Not that I actually have any money to do so! Get over it! You're a conceited little airhead who thinks of no one but themselves. Eating this wouldn't make you fat, it'd turn you back into the ugly pig you are!"

Mika wasn't ugly. On the outside, at least. She was actually quite pretty, very much so, but I nonetheless took great pleasure in denying it. I stood up to leave, but Mika suddenly started making a scene.

"Waaaaaaah!" she cried, drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant. "This wicked little girl just cheated me out of my money!"

Several employees of Big Bang Burger stood in my path. I was surprised they bothered to respond to nonsense like this. "What the hell's goin' on here?!"

"Nothing at all. That woman there is extremely tactless. Now if you'll please excuse me," I said curtly, shoving my way past the restaurant workers. Everyone was staring at me, but I hardly cared. It felt good to give a piece of my mind to such an unforgivably bitchy person, especially after having put up with Dekishi Misako and her nonsense for so long.

Leaving Mika and her staged melodrama behind, I exited Big Bang Burger. I hadn't asked about Niijima, but it was pretty clear that Arashi Mika knew nothing useful about her. And besides, I wasn't just investigating Niijima-san anymore. I was now scouring the paths of all the Phantom Thieves. I needed to find that bigger picture.

On the way to track my next lead, I pulled out my phone to message someone important…

 _Hey, can I see you? I need to talk to you about something._

 ** _You know you're not supposed to talk to me. How did you get my number?_**

 _I snuck a look at Mother's phone._

 ** _Why does SHE still have my number?! We don't ever talk anymore._**

 _Can I please see you? Please?_

 ** _…_**

 ** _No. I'm sorry, Pumpkin._**

* * *

Kosei High was a much plainer looking school than I expected. I had to take a bus to get there, which I wasn't accustomed to. Thankfully, traffic wasn't too bad, and it only took about an hour or so. With all I'd heard about their distinguished art and science programs, I'd imagined it would probably look special somehow. But it looked like an ordinary school. Not too different from Shujin.

Kosei had once been an all-girls school, but recently a new headmaster had decided that this was no longer acceptable. He talked of encouraging equality of the sexes and making everyone feel welcome. It was also quite possibly because there weren't too many dedicated arts programs at Tokyo schools these days, so Kosei had wanted to open theirs up.

The decision had been met with much controversy from parents and the teachers. Some of whom pulled their children out of the school, or quit their jobs there. A good few big funders of the school had withdrawn their support. I personally didn't know what I thought of it, and did not care. All it meant to me was that were I to go to Kosei, I would not be able to consider it any sort of escape from all the boys who got on my case from time to time.

Though, as Dekishi Misako had clearly demonstrated, it wasn't just boys whom you had to watch out for in that regard…

The bus dropped me off at the side of the school, so I walked around to find the gate. Once there, I asked several students if they knew Kitagawa Yusuke. But most of them either didn't seem to know who I was talking about or recalled him as "some oddball with lobsters." Some told me a little bit about how he had been painting strange things before "disappearing…" But it seemed no one wished to further elaborate. Others noticed my Shujin uniform and asked what the hell I was doing here.

This wasn't going well. If I stuck around here much longer, I'd be suspected of something… I decided to leave.

When I got to the bus stop, there was a Kosei girl waiting as well. She had deep brown hair, bright green eyes, and a red omamori tied into her hair. She looked somewhat familiar…

"It's a nice day, isn't it?"

I was a bit startled, but quickly regained my composure and replied pleasantly, "I suppose it could be a nice day, if you prefer to think of it that way. It's up to your interpretation of the world, isn't it?"

The green-eyed girl seemed thoughtful at this. "I guess so… but… isn't there a generally accepted definition of what a nice day is?"

"Well, yes," I replied, "but definitions and perceptions are two different things. I'm a writer, so I would know. I could write something about it being a nice day, and picture one thing, but you might read it and picture something else. That has happened before…"

It had indeed. There had been several times where I had written something which I believed to be meaning one thing, but a student had come to me thinking I was saying something very different. I'd ultimately concluded that since I couldn't change their perceptions, there was no way for me to trust my readers.

The girl considered my words for a moment…

* * *

Hifumi was reminded of Akira somewhat, in how he had talked of winning and losing. Faking a death, and coming back around to get the killer. She quite missed him, the questionable moves he made in shogi, and the odd things which he would often say. His unrelenting challenge of the Togo Kingdom, despite dozens and dozens of defeats.

Challenging the quality of the weather sounded like something he might think to do. Perhaps this girl was something like him.

Come to think of it, she was wearing a Shujin uniform. It was possible that they had met. And possibly that she knew something about where he might be. Hmm.

Hifumi looked out to the road, and saw that her bus was approaching. "Well," she told the mysterious Shujin student, "it looks like this is my bus, so goodbye. Thank you for the thought about today."

The girl stood, somewhat blank-faced for a moment, taking in her surroundings and carefully looking Hifumi over.

The bus was approaching…

* * *

And then I realized to whom I was speaking. As the bus came nearer, I realized that I couldn't let this girl disappear from my sight now.

"WAIT!"

The Venus of Shogi turned around curiously. "Hm? Is there something wrong?"

"Are you Togo Hifumi?"

Togo-san looked a little nervous. "I don't do autographs…"

"No no no," I said hastily, "that's not what I'm after at all! Do you know Kurusu Akira?"

And then her face lit up with surprise. The bus came to the curb, but Togo ignored it, and it drove away.

"You're friends with Akira?"

"I…" was I? At this point, I wasn't sure. I'd spoken to him about some rumors a few times. The boy was certainly polite, charming even. But that was the extent of our relationship. Nothing more, nothing less.

Except now, I was searching for information on him. I had been digging so deeply into his life, the lives of his friends, his girlfriend, visited his home. I may not have been his friend by definition. But if you went by perception, a fair case could be made…

I wasn't just looking for information about Niijima or the Phantom Thieves. I wasn't just doing research for a newspaper article. And it was more than telling people an important story about heroes, even.

I was searching for Kurusu Akira.

* * *

"It's weird," the newspaper club member told Akira, "I've only spoken to you a few times before now. Yet, as I was digging up information on you, Niijima and all your other friends, I felt more and more like I was getting to know all of you."

"What makes you think that?" Akira wondered, curiously.

"Do you know the saying, 'you are the average of all the people you spend time with?' Something like that." She absentmindedly began scribbling a note with her left hand, which, in the blink of an eye, she completed with her right. Then added, "as I met more of the people you've met, I felt like I was piecing together the average."

 _The average…_ Akira was intrigued by the thought. "So what does that average tell you about me?"

"You're loyal to your friends," the girl told him. "You're exciting, quick-witted, thoughtful and intelligent. I felt as if you and Niijima-san were leading me down this path… telling me something. Telling me that I ought to find the truth and defend your memory, and the memory of your friends, go against the will of these terrible adults."

"My memory… ?"

"Ah," the newspaper club member realized what she'd said. "I guess that did sound a little strange, didn't it? I almost made it sound like you had died." She gave Akira a seemingly knowing wink.

 _What? Does she…_

"But more than that. That I should act on my own desire," the girl went on, "my desire to write whatever I wanted in my life. That I should obtain my own freedom. And you left me this trail to follow, and guided me without even being there. Perhaps without even being aware of it."

Akira realized that that sounded a lot like something he would do. "So," he wondered, "do you think… maybe I intended you to be here today?"

"I think you wanted someone like me to be here today, at least," Newspaper Girl decided. "You wanted someone to learn the truth, right?"

"I guess so…"

"I think so too."

"And," Akira added thoughtfully, "had I known of your situation before… I think I would indeed tell you to resist what the school had planned for the paper. I think you're right about me. Everything you've said sounds like the sort of thing I would do."

The quietly energetic writer looked delighted. "Really?"

"Really."

"I was just… saying stuff! I was kind of guessing…"

He smiled at her deeply. "You're a really good guesser."

As the two looked at each other in respect and admiration, their hearts were moved gently by the realization…

* * *

 _The newspaper club member and I seem to understand each other better…_

 _ **CONFIDANT -**_ Newspaper Club Member

 **ARCANA** _Art **RANK UP!**_

[Rank 2; stars cut from FF.]

* * *

"Do you know how to play shogi?"

"A little bit. I've read the rules, but I've not really played…" I wasn't confident that she'd be happy to hear this. It seemed like she might immediately disengage if I expressed any sign of ignorance.

Togo-san seemed delighted to hear it, however. "No worries! I've had plenty of practice teaching Akira, so I don't mind refreshing you on the basics. Well then, how about we discuss it over a match?"

* * *

"Checkmate!" Togo Hifumi declared, capturing my king. "The Togo Kingdom has emerged victorious!"

We were playing at the church in Kanda, which I found very strange. I wasn't religious in the slightest. Most religions, I think, would have something or other to say about my worldview. Neither was Hifumi, really, but still, it felt very odd.

"Er…" I tried to think of something clever to say, but I couldn't really come up with anything. Since my name didn't really sound good when used for things like this, I couldn't really name any sort of kingdom, empire, or establishment after myself… I decided to not bother.

"I suppose I'm not very good at this game," I said meekly.

"Don't worry about it," Hifumi said reassuringly. "Anyway, you wanted to know about Kitagawa-kun?"

"What was he… what was your impression of him?" I inquired. We'd already established that Kitagawa Yusuke had been found dead and that the school refused to believe he was a Phantom Thief. But Hifumi wasn't telling me much else in regards to the Phantom Thieves. Kosei's headmaster sounded like an interesting man, if he were one who would doubt the words of the police.

"He was… interesting. I never talked to him much," she told me, "but I saw him paint a lot of strange things. Kitagawa-kun did refer me to Kurusu Akira, however. He came to visit me shortly thereafter, and we became shogi partners. Or, as he liked to put it, I became his 'shogi master.'"

"Wouldn't it be more accurate to say 'shogi mistress?'" I pointed out. I had always been a stickler for maintaining gender-accurate titles.

The Queen of the Togo Kingdom laughed jovially. "I suppose so… But it just doesn't sound the same. Shogi mistress… hmm." She seemed to actually like the thought, despite her words. "You know what, maybe it does fit. I'm not sure. I already have so many shogi-related monikers, I'm hesitant to have another one."

"Interesting…"

"That reminds me of the time," Hifumi went on, "when I met Akira and his girlfriend in Jinbocho."

I was somewhat surprised. It was true that my investigation was all connecting back to Makoto to begin with, but Hifumi was so easily conversational. She was giving me all the information I wanted, without me having to take control and ask a lot of questions. The ease of this interaction was very pleasing.

"What happened in Jinbocho?"

Hifumi cleared her throat and began…

* * *

 _ **8/15/2016**_

 _ **Jinbocho, Book Town**_

 _ **Togo Hifumi, the Shogi Queen, is surprised to have found Kurusu Akira and Niijima Makoto in Book Town, of all places. She has been in love with Akira for quite a bit of time now, and is surprised and embarrassed to see him with another girl. Reasonably deciding that he would be charming enough for almost any girl in her right mind, she opts to leave them be…**_

 _ **Hifumi:** Um… goodbye._

 _ **Makoto:** Wait! Was there something you wanted to say to to him?_

 _ **Hifumi:** Oh, um, no. I was just surprised to see him. I didn't mean to intrude between the two of you…_

 _ **Makoto:** Oh, he's just carrying my books for me._

 _ **Akira:** Uh, I'm—_

 _ **Makoto delivers a soft blow to his elbow, silencing him.**_

 _ **Akira:** Ouch._

 _ **Makoto:** Is she a friend of yours?_

 _ **Akira:** Uh, yeah. She's my shogi master._

 _ **He smiles at her proudly as he says it. His flattering demeanor surprises Hifumi. She is not used to being regarded so highly by a peer. As such, she is a little confused, wondering what she has done to deserve this…**_

 _ **Hifumi: '** Shogi master?' That's a bit much. We just play together._

 _ **Akira:** Yes, but you always win!_

 _ **Makoto:** Oh, is she the professional 'master strategist' shogi player you mentioned?_

 _ **Hifumi:** Uh, yes… Pleased to meet you. My name is Togo Hifumi._

 _ **Makoto:** Niijima Makoto._

 _ **Makoto offers Hifumi her hand, which the other accepts and shakes firmly.**_

 _ **Makoto:** The pleasure is mine, Togo-san - is that a book on shogi tactics?_

 _ **Hifumi:** Oh, yes, I come here to purchase old strategy guides from time to time._

 _ **Makoto:** I see… I wonder—do excuse me if this is an odd request - but could you teach me some strategies? I believe I could benefit greatly from the knowledge._

 _ **Hifumi:** Oh, sure! Well, if it's about shogi… To mount an attack, you need to approach the situation creatively, and sacrifice your pieces without remorse._

 _ **Makoto:** I see. Plan on enticing your opponent to focus on your sacrifices, then while they are distracted, advance the counter attack?_

 _ **Hifumi:** You seem to have a natural talent for this._

 _ **The two of them continue talking for a long while. Hifumi is delighted to find someone else who takes so well to strategizing a plan. Akira certainly takes a great interest in strategy, but is often far more interested in doing whatever he does simply to look cool. Makoto seems much more interested in the deeper substance of the plan…**_

 _ **Akira:** You seem to be getting along._

 _ **Makoto:** Oh, sorry. What Togo-san was saying was so interesting to me, that I lost track of time. I'll catch up with you later. Could you go look for the book we talked about?_

 _ **Akira nods and enters the Jinbocho bookstore. Hifumi watches him go…**_

 _ **And watches…**_

 _ **Makoto:** Togo-san, are you alright?_

 _ **Hifumi snaps back to reality.**_

 _ **Hifumi:** My apologies. But, isn't he wonderful? You're lucky to have him, Niijima-san._

 _ **Makoto looks a little flustered.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Ah. Yes, he's… he's a lovely boyfriend. Thank you._

 _ **Hifumi:** I'm sorry… did I make you uncomfortable?_

 _ **Makoto:** No. It's just that… It's new to me. I've never…_

 _ **Hifumi:** You've never had a boyfriend before?_

 _ **Makoto:** No… never. Ever since I was about twelve, my sister's made me focus intensely on my schoolwork. I never had time for one. It's kind of…_

 _ **Makoto pauses, quiet and introspective.**_

 _ **Hifumi:** I know how you feel. My mother's turned my passion for shogi into a chore for me. I have to practice hard for her every day. My father doesn't exactly agree… but he's sick, and bedridden, so there's not much he can do about it._

 _ **Makoto looks very saddened to hear this.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Togo-san… that reminds me of… my father._

 _ **Hifumi:** Your father? What about my situation reminds you of him?_

 _ **Makoto:** He…_

 _ **Makoto's eyes take on a look of heavy sorrow.**_

 _ **Makoto:** He was… a police officer. He was killed… tracking down a gang. I don't know all the details, but they were… trafficking something…_

 _ **Hifumi is shocked.**_

 _ **Hifumi:** My goodness… I'm sorry. That's terrible._

 _ **Hifumi:** I feel like my own troubles are so minuscule in comparison to that…_

 _ **Makoto smiles with a gentle amiability about her.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Don't worry… this isn't a contest for whose personal issues are more serious. We're just talking. I hope I didn't say anything wrong…_

 _ **Hifumi:** No, not at all. I… I think I understand. We're both having difficulties with our families, I suppose…_

 _ **Hifumi thinks a moment.**_

 _ **Hifumi:** What about your mother? If… if that's… okay to ask… ?_

 _ **Makoto:** She's… gone. She just disappeared. Just left. She was tired of seeing my father work so late… they argued… and then she left. Sis and I never saw her again…_

 _ **Hifumi looks like she feels very sorry for Makoto.**_

 _ **The two queens are quiet for a moment.**_

 _ **Makoto breaks the silence.**_

 _ **Makoto:** I wish he were still here. Without him, my sister's become, well… she used to be nice. She cared for me, and had very strong morals which she very gracefully upheld. But now… she's not herself anymore._

 _ **Hifumi:** I know what you mean. My mother wasn't so vehemently invested in making me practice shogi until my father became ill. Before that, she used to play herself with me sometimes. She was never that into it, and I was much better at it than her. My father and I would usually beat her. Still, she at least found it somewhat fun. Now she doesn't ever play with us anymore. I'm stuck playing against myself… or I was, until Akira came along._

 _ **They stand still for a minute, thinking about their situations…**_

 _ **Hifumi:** We've only known each other about ten minutes…_

 _ **Makoto laughs.**_

 _ **Makoto:** Yes… It's a little odd that we would go pouring our hearts out to each other about our families' woes so soon._

 _ **Hifumi:** Do you want to get some food while we wait for Akira? There's a takoyaki stand over there._

 _ **Makoto:** That sounds lovely. Are you going to cover the cost, or would you like me to do so?_

 _ **Hifumi:** Do not worry; I shall pay for our food. Let us venture forth!_

 _ **Makoto laughs again, and Hifumi joins in her mirth as they approach the vendor.**_

 _ **Makoto:** May I call you Hifumi, then?_

 _ **Hifumi:** You may. It's wonderful to meet you, Makoto._

* * *

I was surprised by the story… I remembered Dekishi talking about Niijima's father and sister, but I never imagined that that's what might have happened to them. It was truly heartbreaking to think of…

"And then we got ourselves some takoyaki. We joked around for a while," Hifumi told me, earnestly, "and as we did so, learned more about ourselves and our families and our common interests. After that day, we met a few more times by ourselves. We became quite close. And then…"

Hifumi looked very sad. She began to cry, and looked at me with quiet, regretful eyes… As she wiped away the tears, she gave me a sad smile.

I wasn't certain what to say… what could I say? I hadn't really known Niijima…

"I remember," Hifumi choked a little, "something else Makoto told me about Akira."

"Akira?" I prompted gently, wanting to hear more. I was sorry that Hifumi had lost Makoto, but at the same time, my natural inquisitive journalist nature was taking hold of me. What better way to learn about Kurusu Akira than to hear what his lover had thought of him?

"Makoto told me that Akira reminded her of her father," Hifumi recalled. "Because of his resolve. He was so kind, but at the same time, he had the guts to stand up to those in power. While also possessing the will, and the discipline, to never strike without reason. And the determination to talk back at anyone who talked big. He used his words more often than his fists…" Hifumi smiled at the memory. "He's what some would call 'a real smartass.'"

Remembering some of the things Kurusu had said to me during our conversations, I couldn't agree on a more fitting title for him. I, too, smiled at Hifumi's recollection of Makoto's description. I was now imagining what kind of wonders we could have worked together if he had joined the newspaper club. Why had I never thought to ask?

Right… I had told him to leave me alone, because of his background. Ostracized him from the start. How could I have been so tactless? I supposed it couldn't be helped, then. I didn't know a thing about him, and what with all the rumors.

But it wasn't only that. It was also because he was another boy…

Hifumi's voice snapped me out of my reverie.

"She also said he was a very pleasant kisser."

"Is that so?" I inquired, a little skeptically. Due to my own experiences, and resulting (lack of) sexual interest in others, I found it difficult to imagine a pleasant kisser. Though, I supposed it was somewhat possible that the boy I had kissed was simply a poor kisser.

"I can't verify that," Hifumi answered, giggling. "But he was always making clever and theatrical moves in our shogi matches. It often proved to be his downfall. But, it was nonetheless an admirable effort. He was truly something… he didn't deserve his probation. What that terrible man did to him, whoever that was…"

"What man?"

Hifumi gasped. "Oh, uh… sorry. I shouldn't bring that up. That's a very personal topic to Akira. I guess I've already told you so much… but…"

* * *

"It's alright," Akira assured the newspaper club member, "I'll tell you…"

When he finished, she looked truly apalled. "Do you know who it was?"

"Yeah…" Akira told her, "It was Shido Masayoshi."

The girl gasped, dropping her notebook and pen in shock. "The prime minister… ?!"

"The very same." Akira shook his head in tranquil fury. "He'd done it to save his petty ass from something stupid he did while drunk… I wanted to punch him in his stupid face."

"That's… and there's no way that we could… perhaps I could…"

"The records," Akira lamented sadly, "are all covered in red tape… and the woman's identity is a mystery. It's doubtful."

"But you know how good I am at investigating!"

"Ohya Ichiko couldn't even figure out who it was." Akira was regretful. "She's a professional. If she couldn't get to the bottom of it…" He gave Newspaper Girl a sad look. At the mention of Ohya, her face took on a somewhat nervous look.

"What?" Akira said, concerned, "you know Ohya?"

"I'll get to it," she told him, picking up her notebook and pen again. "In the meantime, Akira… I truly am sorry for what happened to you. I wish I could do something…"

She was filled with frustration and sorrow at being unable to help him.

* * *

 _The newspaper club member seems to care more about me…_

 ** _CONFIDANT -_ ** Newspaper Club Member

 **ARCANA** _Art **RANK UP!**_

[Rank 3; stars cut from FF.]

* * *

"When did they get together?" I asked Hifumi. I was still rather curious about the circumstances of their romance, which I found odd, as I had never been interested in such things before, but…

"Well, the day they started dating…" Hifumi was quiet a moment, evidently trying to recall correctly. "I believe Makoto said that Akira asked her to be his girlfriend at a bar. They'd gone there after saving a girl from being taken advantage of by a host in Shinjuku."

"Wait, after?" Eiko had told me that they were already with each other by that point. Had she recalled incorrectly?

"Akira was posing as her boyfriend to get information on the host," she explained. "After they got him to go away, they went to a bar called… Crossroads, I think it was. They talked about everything that happened, and Akira told her that he loved her. And then he became her boyfriend officially."

"I see…"

"And then he proposed an unusual activity. He took her to see a fortune teller at a stand not far from there, who read her fortune using tarot cards. She found it quite strange, but she went along with it."

"A fortune teller, huh?" I didn't know much about fortune telling. It sounded kinda fake. I'd stopped trusting those sorts of things ages ago. Horoscopes, fortune cookies, people wearing fancy outfits and flipping over cards, tracing palms, looking at fuzzy crystal balls. I had far too cynical of a personality to believe in such things. But if Kurusu Akira was leading me to a fortune teller…

"What was their name?"

"Mifune Chihaya," Hifumi told me, rather quickly. "She and I have since been working together, along with all of Akira's other friends. We're trying to find him… he's been missing."

 _That must be the same thing Mishima was talking about,_ I thought. _Well…_

"You might like to talk to her as well. She was also helped by Akira, much like I was."

My phone chimed urgently. I took it out of my pocket, and, seeing that it was my mother, swiftly silenced the phone and let it ring to voicemail.

"How long has he been missing?"

"About… about a month."

 _A month…_

This all was too much… too much to be a coincidence. Sakamoto, Kurusu, Niijima, Takamaki and Okumura all either dead or missing from school. Kitagawa having been found dead. All of it having started with Kurusu's disappearance from school… a month ago.

I needed answers. I needed the full picture.

I bid Togo Hifumi farewell and headed off to Shinjuku.

* * *

I found Mifune Chihaya's appearance rather funny. Her colors of choice contrasted well with the now-fast setting sun above us. She was a small woman, wearing a purple dress decorated with odd clock patterns, long blonde hair with a headband, and her eyes were a deep violet. I'd never been much for purple. I'd in fact never been much for bright colors in general…

Chihaya was staring intently at a set of tarot cards laid out on her table. She sounded quiet and pensieve. She turned over one of the cards, and her face appeared greatly puzzled. "The World again…" she murmured, seeming confused and frustrated. "What sense does this make? What's it mean…"

"Chihaya-san," I said politely, taking a seat at her stand. "How do you do?"

"Oh!" she seemed quite startled by my sudden appearance. "Good evening!"

"Are you reading your own fortune?"

"What? Oh, no!" Chihaya said hastily, flipping over the cards hastily, which only amplified my curiosity. "I'm reading the fortune of someone else… someone…"

"Would it be Kurusu Akira, by any chance?"

Chihaya seemed shocked. "How do you know?"

"I'm one of his friends," I told her. "We used to discuss gossip and topics of interest at school."

"Really?" She appeared to doubt my story. This can't be good…

"Indeed," I told her, "we used to… The fortune teller's intense gaze shut off my voice. "uh…" It was hard to read. Perhaps she suspected me of having hostile intentions.

"You're a liar," she said indignantly, "I don't need divination to see that you've told very many lies today with your own ends in mind. What is your intention?"

"I'm not—I'm—I haven't told a single lie today!" I said, my voice dripping with panic. I hadn't lied. It was just telling the truth as it best suited the situation. And even if that was to be qualified as lying, weren't they good lies? I was trying to uncover the truth! I had to be in the right…

Right?

Chihaya flipped over a few cards, and a mysterious ripple shot through the air. "What is this?" I questioned. "What are you doing?"

And then the purple-dressed fortune teller told me my real name.

My jaw dropped…

"I… I didn't tell you that!" I shouted. "I didn't tell anyone that… except… Kurusu Akira… But, everyone's forgotten it! I'm… I… I…"

"You're some sort of investigator!" The look on Chihaya's face was one of utter terror. "What are you doing? Are you with… them?! Those monsters that _killed him?!"_ She stood up and nervously advanced towards me in a confrontational manner.

"Agh!" Chihaya grabbed me by the shoulders, and I dropped my backpack in surprise. What on Earth was going on?

"Are ya here ta smoke me?!" the woman shouted, her dialect suddenly shifting into a less refined manner of speech. "I won't be lettin' that happen 'round here! You'd better leave right now or I'll scream!"

"I don't want to do anything to hurt you!" I hissed at her, looking around anxiously to see if anyone had taken it upon themselves to alert the police. Thankfully, no one seemed to take notice of us. "I'm a school reporter! What the fuck is going on? Let me go!"

"A school… reporter?" Chihaya released me and stepped back. Her voice reverted back to normal. "Oh… I'm so sorry…"

"What was that about?" I asked, picking up my bag. "Did something…"

"It's because of…" tears came from her eyes. "It hasn't been confirmed. I haven't been telling anyone. But my readings have been telling me that Kurusu Akira is… dead."

My eyes widened in shock. "Dead?!"

* * *

"You were dead…"

Akira stood there a few moments, taking in Newspaper Girl's words.

"You were dead, right? Weren't you?"

"Yeah…"

"How did you come back?"

He had no idea what to say.

The excellent young journalist had him all figured out. If a literal no-name could solve the mystery of…

"How did you know where to find me?"

"You're worried that Shido's minions will track you down? Don't worry," the girl assured him calmly, "I got information about your whereabouts through someone else who knows you."

"But really," Akira wondered, "why are you here? I know it wasn't just to tell me about everything that happened…"

"I came because…" she shook her head. "Just let me explain."

* * *

 _The newspaper club member revealed that she knew I was one of the dead Phantom Thieves._

 _But it feels like I can trust her with that knowledge…_

 ** _CONFIDANT -_** Newspaper Club Member

 **ARCANA** _Art **RANK UP!**_

[Rank 5; stars cut from FF.]

* * *

Chihaya told me all she knew. Kurusu Akira and his accomplices, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, had gone missing and were supposed to be dead, though most of their names had not been released to the media. People related to them either didn't know or didn't care. Though the news claimed either suicide or an accident, Chihaya's readings told her that it was murder.

"Yet I keep seeing all these different results coming up, suggesting that they have more left to do… it's been confusing me so very much."

"That doesn't explain why you thought I, of all people, was here to kill you."

"I think… I can't be sure. But I think that their enemy, the one who killed them. I can't figure out their name—it's as if some powerful force is preventing me from divining it. But I don't think anyone could do that… unless they were some sort of a god. Anyway, I think they sent a young boy… someone about their own age."

"This… enemy," I gaped, "sent… a teenage boy, to kill the Phantom Thieves?!" I couldn't believe this. What kind of monster would do such a thing?

"That is indeed what the cards tell me," Chihaya told me, "yet they also are saying so much more… ever since Akira started coming to me, I've been made to read many difficult-to-decipher fortunes. It's been quite a bit of a headache."

I barely heard Chihaya now… now all I heard was my anger. I could hardly believe it. If this fortune teller—whose intuition I now fully trusted, after she had so easily uncovered my real name—was to be believed, the Phantom Thieves had been brutally murdered. I wished I could print this in the article, but I had no real proof and no way of acquiring it, which truly, truly pissed me off…

"Are you alright?"

I looked at Chihaya's concerned face, and become conscious of the fact that my body was actually shaking with fury… I took a few deep breaths to calm myself.

A few months ago, I may not have cared. I was so desperate for news to report on, just to get people to take me seriously, that I barely cared about the news itself. But now, I was mad. And I wanted to do something about it. A dead boy, of all people, had gotten me to pay attention…

"I'm alright," I told Chihaya, slowing my breath and looking her in the eye. "Do you recall Akira and his girlfriend Makoto having come here once?"

"Why do you want to know?" Chihaya asked me.

"Because…" I asserted, my voice dripping with determination like I had never known, "there are people at my school lying about them. Lying about who they were and what they did. I'm searching for the truth, because I want to prove them wrong."

Chihaya was fascinated. "That sounds like something Akira would say…" She thought it over a moment. "Alright. Yes, they were here. They came from that bar over there. Before that they'd gotten into some sort of an altercation with a host from that club," she indicated the direction of it. "And then they came to talk to me. I read Niijima Makoto's fortune… it was quite interesting, but it upset her and she ran away."

"What was the fortune about?"

"Her sister…"

Made sense. Considering what Hifumi had told me, Niijima's sister would naturally be a sore spot.

"That's all I have to tell you," Chihaya told me pleasantly. "I wish you good luck with revealing the truth to everyone at your school. While you're here, would you like a reading of your own?"

Would I? I was a little hesitant to say yes. I'd never had any good experiences after having my fortune read, but, Mifune Chihaya did seem like a genuine fortune teller. Perhaps something good would come of this.

"Sure, but, won't I have to pay for it?"

"No, it's free of charge for you," Chihaya assured me, smiling, "considering the circumstances. Is there anything specific you'd like to know?"

Was there? Hm, I could ask about the newspaper club. But perhaps that was too petty. Regardless of its survival, I would be graduating soon, and its future would likely be of no consequence by then. I could ask about something way way far off, like about my future financial prospects. Or perhaps my life expectancy. But did I really want to know that? In fact, did I really want any fortune at all? I wasn't sure.

"Nothing in particular," I decided, "just general… stuff."

"Very well, I shall look into your near future then," she concluded, and so she began the reading. Flipping over a few cards, she saw… "hmm… Priestess. The Priestess began your quest… and the Art… what? That shouldn't be here…"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all… I'm simply surprised. Usually the Art Arcana doesn't belong in this deck… it takes the place of Temperance in the Thoth Tarot Deck."

I didn't understand all of this, but I nodded as though I did, imploring Chihaya to continue. She flipped over a few more cards.

"Art would possibly mean that you are to gain a stronger character than you previously had… and the Fool… the Aeon…" she shook her head. "Meet the Trickster… and the Aeon, symbolizing that you will soon begin a new chapter in your life… and—what? Another foreign card?"

"Another? What do you mean?"

"Well, it seems that… you weren't meant to be involved," Chihaya murmured, "but someone changed something… a mysterious outside force altered an established flow of events by the force of their own will."

Altered an established flow of events, hm? I was interested. If someone could do that… "like… like a god of some sort?"

"Perhaps," the fortune teller said. "Whoever they are, they may have gifted you this strange new fortune. I would recommend that you do them proud…"

And that I did.

* * *

After saying goodbye to Chihaya, I approached the host club, where I saw a messily dressed man with unkempt red hair that hid about half his face. He was wearing an odd white suit with a flower on it. In his right hand, he held a lit cigarette. It seemed he matched Eiko's description.

I stood a few feet away, trying my best to avoid breathing in the fumes from his cigarette. I was not interested in the slightest in smoking, nor in breathing the smoke of others.

"Excuse me," I inquired, "Are you Tsukasa? The host?"

He put out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray and looked at me with an obnoxious, indignant stare. " Yeah? What do you want?"

Tsukasa seemed quite bored, and looked like he barely paid attention to anything more than two feet in front of his face. It may have been somewhat justified, since his dumb hair probably obscured about half his vision. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in that strange looking head of his.

"I'm here because I heard you were bothering one of my friends around this place in early August," I told him pleasantly. Eiko's description of him had been quite scary, but I had thought she might be exaggerating. The guy looked like a dimwitted red-haired clown. "I wanted to confirm that this did indeed take place. If so, then we have a bit of a problem."

"Even if I did remember that, which I don't, why the hell would I tell you about it?" the untidily dressed host spat rudely.

"Do you remember a Niijima Makoto?" I inquired with a tone of false patience. I didn't think I would bother talking to this guy much longer. He was getting on my nerves.

"What if I did?"

I took out my notebook and pen and performed a rough sketch of Niijima, which I then held up for Tsukasa to see. "This face ring a bell?"

He looked at it carefully for a solid thirty seconds. "Uhh…" then, his face shifted to that of fury. "Oh yeah! That bitch threatened me! She told my baby princess a bunch of crap about me and her boyfriend assaulted me, completely unprovoked!"

"Really?" he seemed to remember that Niijima and Kurusu had been there, which was a reassuring start. But I was rather bemused and disappointed that he didn't seem to recall the names of anyone involved.

"Yeah, they just walked up to my girl out of the blue, started telling her shit, and totally ruined our relationship!" He rambled on for a few minutes about their threats and unjustified insults. I was barely listening. It sounded like nonsense, and didn't seem to match up with what Eiko had told me. Judging by this man's character, it didn't appear he could be considered a reliable source.

He also seemed rather stupid and was really annoying. I couldn't wait to get this over with so that I could dismiss his bullshit.

"Then, her boyfriend gave me one hell of a sock to the jaw, and—"

"What an exciting story."

Tsukasa and I both turned to see who had spoken. It was a tall, fair-looking man with brown hair combed neatly out of his face, which perfectly complemented the small beard on his inconspicuous chin. He wore very plain clothes. It seemed like he was a salesman or manager of some sort…

"I saw the whole thing," he told me. "He was the one who accused them of slandering his name. There wasn't any fighting or nothin'. They just told him to back off."

"Thanks," I told the guy. He was clearly a lot more believable than Tsukasa, so I decided to go with that.

"Juzo-san!" shouted Tsukasa angrily, "this is none of your goddamn business!"

"Well, then, whose business is it?" Juzo asked, "you were making a goddamn fool of yourself in front of everyone within a hundred-foot radius."

The two of them kept arguing. Having no need to be involved any further, I left them be and went to Crossroads.

I had one more source to contact.

* * *

"Hey there kid," Lala said pleasantly, "I haven't seen you in quite a while. How's it goin' with the journaling?"

"Pretty well," I replied. Lala looked as odd and as friendly as ever. "I've just been busy searching up information on Shujin's student council president. Er… _former_ president, anyway…"

"Ah, yeah, she died, didn't she?" Lala sighed in disappointment. "Y'know, something seems real fishy about that. She just didn't seem like the type to up and off her own blood. Ichiko-chan's been spending her spare time trying to find out what the hell's going on."

"Really?" I wondered, "has she—"

"I… probably shouldn't have mentioned that," Lala realized, "she'll be all over my case now, if she finds out that I told you. You know she's been trying to keep you—"

 _Ding._

The door to Crossroads opened, and a lean woman with black hair, red lipstick wearing a flamboyant shirt and jeans entered. "Lala-chan!" she said cheerfully, "could I have—"

Ohya Ichiko's voice stopped short when she saw me.

She looked at me, surprised, stupefied, perhaps a little angry… I returned this with an awkward glare.

"Ichiko-chan, are you alright?" Lala wondered, concerned, "you look like you've seen a ghost. Is everything—" then she noticed us looking at each other. "Oh, is she not supposed to be here?"

"Pumpkin."

"Auntie Ichiko…"

My aunt, the journalist Ohya Ichiko, took a seat next to me, looking quite upset. "You shouldn't have come." Her voice was that of pure aggravation. "I told you not to come. Pumpkin, you know what will happen if your mother finds out about this."

"I didn't come here to see you!" I told my aunt, "I came here to talk to Lala!"

"Lala-chan," Auntie Ichiko asked, "did she come here to talk to you?"

Lala shrugged. "I dunno. She never called me up or anything saying she wanted to talk to me."

Auntie Ichiko looked at me skeptically. "You knew I was going to be here… I find it difficult to believe that you didn't—"

"Okay, fine!" I confessed, "I missed you. It's been so long since we've seen each other. I wanted to talk to you. I also happened upon someone who knew you while investigating for an article."

My mother forbade me from seeing Auntie Ichiko primarily because she believed she was a bad influence on me, because of her drinking habits. Of course, she didn't understand that sometimes journalists have difficulty in their jobs. Being a writer is something that can eat away at your soul if you aren't careful. My aunt was an investigative journalist, but after being demoted to entertainment, began to lose meaning in her life. After that, my mother disallowed contact between us, and we stopped meeting up to talk about our writing.

"What kind of article?" she asked. "About what?" I swallowed, hesitating to answer. I knew she wouldn't approve…

I had always looked up to Auntie Ichiko. It was because of her that I wanted to be a journalist—when I was young, I'd thought she was the coolest person in the world. She was the one who had encouraged me to join the newspaper club. And every week, she would read what I was working on, and tell me about her job… all these interesting stories she was doing, the intrigue and corruption she was trying to expose. It sounded, to my littler self, like something out of a spy movie.

But now…

"Pumpkin." Auntie Ichiko said firmly. She hadn't ordered any drinks, a sign that she was being real serious. She really wanted me to pay attention. "What's your story about?"

"I…" I choked a little on the words. "I'm investigating Niijima Makoto. And Kurusu Akira, and… the Phantom Thieves."

My aunt let out a small gasp. "Pumpkin…"

"Ichiko-chan, did you want a drink?" Lala inquired. Auntie Ichiko looked a little upset.

"Just water, thanks."

Lala gave my aunt an odd look, but complied with her request without another word, likely noticing the serious shift in tone.

"Pumpkin," Auntie Ichiko said, sounding quite worried, "investigating the Phantom Thieves is too dangerous. They were murdered."

"I know," I told her, "but I need to find this out. Everyone at Shujin thinks Niijima Makoto was a psychopath. One of her friends asked me to find out what's really going on. I can't let these lies keep circulating among my peers."

"I understand, but please, please listen to me. I've got a pretty good idea of who killed the Phantom Thieves, and they've got some real power behind them. They'll do anything to cover their tracks. If you see something you're not supposed to see…"

The look in Auntie Ichiko's eyes was truly fearful. It was clear that she was scared for me. "Please, Pumpkin, I can't let anything happen to you. Let the grown-ups handle this."

I wasn't certain what to do now. I didn't want to disobey my aunt, but I also didn't want to let this go. But at the same time, I really didn't need to keep hanging on. I had the information I needed. Hell, I'd had the information I'd needed for ages. What the hell was I doing?

I had to agree. I wasn't some kind of supercool spy investigator person. I mean, my aunt wasn't one either, but she was sure as hell closer to it than I was. Even if I did find proof of the one who had come after the Phantom Thieves. Even if I did find whatever was left of Kurusu Akira or Niijima or Takamaki, or anyone else. Even then, what would I do? What _could_ I do? Not much… I was just the sole member of the Shujin newspaper club.

So I nodded, signaling my understanding.

"I promise," I told Auntie Ichiko, "I won't get involved."

"Good." She finished her water and got up. "I'm going home. Pumpkin, you'd best get out of here before your mother wonders where you are. I won't tell her you were here. Go straight back. Forget this happened."

And with that, my super cool aunt departed from Crossroads.

* * *

"Ohya is your aunt?" Akira had not expected this. "I suppose it does make sense. You two do look a little similar."

"Yeah… and it was because of her that—"

The newspaper club member stopped mid-sentence. "Er…"

"What was because of Ohya?" Akira asked, "you can tell me."

"Uh, I'll get to it," she assured him. "I'm just not ready to explain this quite yet…"

Akira was very curious about what "this" was. "So," he said, "you're used to asking questions, but not answering them?"

"Er… I guess so," she decided, "it's kinda hard to say…"

"Well, alright then," Akira told her teasingly, "one question for you. Is Ohya your surname?"

"N-no!" the girl replied nervously, "Auntie Ichiko is my mother's little sister. I… I have my father's family name."

"What might your father's name be?"

"Er… I can't say." This conversation was clearly making Newspaper Girl uncomfortable. "He… I'd rather forget him. He made a bunch of very bad choices. He's out of my life now. I don't want to talk about him."

"Oh…" Akira looked apologetic, "I'm sorry."

His caring face made her smile…

[music notes cut from FF.]

"Please, don't be."

* * *

The newspaper club member opened up to me about her family history…

CONFIDANT - Newspaper Club Member

ARCANA Art RANK UP!

[Rank 6; stars cut from FF.]

* * *

Surprisingly, when I got home, my mother wasn't there. Her jacket and coat were gone, as well as her purse… I hoped she hadn't gone to ask Auntie Ichiko if she knew where I was. It was true that my mother had her phone number, but all things considered it was likely that Auntie Ichiko would ignore any calls and texts from her. Perhaps even block her number.

Whatever. There wasn't too much I could do, so I resolved to do some writing. Specifically, I began writing the article which I had spent the past two days researching. There was no time to waste.

Writing is very, very hard. It's almost torturous. The investigation and thinking part is fun, but when you sit down and finally write it down, it gets to you. All of it. The loneliness of the act itself, the tedium of the revision required, all threatening to oppress your mind, your creativity and intuition, your very essence. Your will. Eating away at your soul, as I said.

It's as if some mysterious being out there in the universe wants to stop it. Stop everyone from communicating. And, considering how few real and good writers there are in the world, it very well might have, if there weren't people like me resisting the pull. People like Auntie Ichiko.

But you could also interpret this torture as a blessing… a rite of passage, that only the best writers can survive.

That's how I'd like to think of it. I have hope that the world would want itself to be written about, only by the best people, and that's why its spirit pushes us writers so. So that we write only the very best we can. It's like a coach. A very strict coach.

Hopefully not one like Kamoshida.

As I pondered all of this, I heard the door open. "Pumpkin?" my mother's voice called out.

"I'm here, Mother."

"Thank goodness." She entered my room, where I was lying flat on my bed, barefoot, scrawling sentence after sentence in my notebook. A few empty cookie packages lay on the floor.

Cookies are good for writing, sometimes. I know I said before that there's not much that I like, but I do really like cookies. Cookies are good. My mother was less than pleased, however.

"Pumpkin, you know you're not supposed to eat in your room…" she sighed, and began picking up the boxes. "What are you writing?"

"My diary," I told her, shutting the book and hastily shifting activities to self-administering another foot massage. She looked rather skeptical, but did not question me further.

It was true, as the notebook had originally been purchased with the intent of being a diary. So I was indeed writing in my diary. I was just using it for journalism instead.

"Well, cookies aren't good for you," she said in an admonishing tone, "I don't want you to get fat, Pumpkin. Come into the kitchen and eat some real food."

 _"Real food." Right. No thanks._

"I'm not hungry, mother." I would rather spend my life living in a sewer than eat my mother's repulsive food again.

She looked rather irritated. Mother glowered at me, then turned away, sighed, and said,

"Fine. Get fat. Be a fat little Pumpkin, a plump pumpkin, turn into a fat chicken, I don't care. Eat all the cookies you like. But don't come complaining to me, you ungrateful little…" she looked puzzled, trying to think of a suitable insult. But my mother hardly ever cursed or called me names of any sort, so eventually she finished, "… Pumpkin."

From the way she said it, there was no need for her to curse. I got the message.

She was oh-so pissed off that she couldn't carve her little Pumpkin.

I turned my back to her and returned to my writing.

* * *

A short few days later, I published the article…

 _ **THE LAST YEAR OF NIIJIMA MAKOTO.**_

I made it as eye-catching and interesting as I could, telling all about Niijima-san, her good character, and her boyfriend—the infamous transfer student Kurusu Akira. I told of how they had such good friends who worried about them, how they had loved each other, and how they had worked together to save a fellow student. I named no names besides Niijima and Kurusu, and I said little of the Phantom Thieves, not revealing any previously unknown identities.

It wasn't long before people were talking about it. I heard people rambling on and on, discussing Niijima and the truth I had disclosed to the school.

 _Whoa, she saved someone?_  
 _Maybe she wasn't so bad after all!_  
 _Seems like a scheme to grab attention._  
 _I dunno, this sounds like Niijima alright._  
 _Kurusu Akira was her boyfriend?_  
 _The transfer student? Oh no!_  
 _Was he one of them too?_  
 _He was such a bad influence on her!_  
 _He was actually a pretty nice guy._  
 _Maybe they were both victims._  
 _Weren't we not supposed to hear more about this?_  
 _Oh crap, the teacher's coming this way!_

I was called to the principal's office and given a serious talking to for my blatant disobedience, but I did not care.

"You deliberately went against my express orders to not fuel this meaningless gossip! You do realize that I could easily close the newspaper club—"

"No," I said curtly to his face, "you can't close the newspaper club. I am the newspaper club, and you can't close me. You'll have to expel me first—the same as Niijima-san."

With those last words, I confidently turned to leave the office. The principal shouted at me to come back, but I ignored him. Just as I had ignored, and would continue to ignore, all the adults denying me my rights. Just like Auntie Ichiko would do.

And then it was off to the Student Council meeting. Probably more bread to be accounted for.

* * *

Bread was the last thing on Miss President's mind.

"Wha-wha-what is this?!" Dekishi Misako shrieked, slamming it upon the table in the Student Council room. "Why did you write this? She's dead! DEAD! Niijima is…" Dekishi-san began to cry, "dead… and I never got to tell her…" She dropped her head onto the desk and sobbed.

"Never got to tell her… what?" I asked.

"THAT I LO—!" Dekishi-san caught herself mid-scream. "THAT SHE _**SUCKED!** _ She was a terrible Student Council president and I hated her and hated her and I wanted her to die… in my arms…"

Her tone clashed with her words, which I found quite disturbing. I wished she had finished that first sentence. It might have been a nice change of pace.

"Why didn't you write about meee?!" Dekishi bawled, her angry face wet with tears and snot. "I wanted you to write this amazing beautiful story about how beautiful I was and how much bread I bought but you wrote about a—" she kicked the desk with each of the following words, "Stupid. Dead. _**Girl!"**_

"I did write about you," I told the upset president, in the most sincere-sounding voice I could summon, "there's one sentence here about how you replaced her. You got mentioned once, Dekishi-san. Isn't that enough?"

"NO!" The girl's green hair dye was fading upon being exposed to the moisture she was exuding from her eyes. "I wanted you to… to… aaaagh! I can't take it anymore!"

Dekishi-san got out of her chair and curled up in the corner, still bawling like a baby. I watched curiously, and, noticing my presence, she glared at me poisonously. "NEWS GIRL!" she shouted, "LEAVE ME ALONE! Do you know what I've been through?! All this bullshit! Everything that's happened! Everyone ignoring me! Go away!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I really didn't. I just wanted to get on with this day, once Dekishi got over this tantrum. "I'd really just like for us to—"

 _ **"I SAID GO AWAY!"**_ she screamed, hugging her bent knees even closer to her chest than before. Dekishi Misako continued crying for reasons not known to or understood by me. She wasn't usually like this. I must have hit a nerve.

So I obeyed Dekishi and left her alone in the room to keep crying her eyes out.

As I exited, I was accosted by a young fellow male student wearing a small hat. "Hey," he said, "I read your article! I thought it was really good! I wanted to ask you something."

"I appreciate it, but I haven't got the time for this," I replied simply.

"But it'll be quick! Look, I wanna tell people outside the school about you. Bu-but I don't know your name…"

"Look in the paper."

"But you didn't put your name in the paper!" the boy yelled at me, desperately. "Please, what is your name? I really need to know! I think you're super cool!"

My name… well. He did say I was cool.

"You really want to know my name that badly? …" I laughed at him, and laughed, and laughed… and laughed. Well, wouldn't you know it. A boy, of all people. The very creatures I had spent almost my entire time in high school alienating. A boy wanted to know my name.

I found it all very funny, for some strange reason. It amused me so, so much, that I actually did the unthinkable. I gave him an answer.

"新聞 女性," I said, giggling uncontrollably, "my name is 新聞 女性." And with that, I turned and walked away from him, still giggling like an idiot. "There, I've given you a name. Are you satisfied?"

And what a wonderful name it was…

"新聞 女性…?" the boy said slowly, not comprehending my answer, "you're… How do you mean? You're Newspaper Girl… ? I don't follow."

"It's all I'll ever be," I said plainly, as I made for the door. And then I looked back at him one last time. "Goodbye, now. I'm glad you enjoyed the story."

The young boy was awed. "Sooo cool…"

* * *

"There's only one boy who's ever charmed me enough to get any worthwhile information out of me," the girl finished, "and he's been such a good listener." Newspaper Girl gave him a huge grin.

"I gotta agree with that kid. You're… cool," Akira told her slowly. "I never knew you were so cool."

Newspaper Girl laughed. "But don't you know a better word than cool, Akira?"

"Remarkable," Akira suggested. "Eccentric. Enigmatic. Charming."

"You're the charming one," Newspaper Girl told him, "and you're clever too. A remarkable person, to have led me down this enigmatic path in such an eccentric manner, from beyond the grave. And seriously, how did you do it?"

"I can't tell you," Akira reminded her, with another debonair smile. "It's a secret. It's a very awesome secret."

"Ah hahahaha…" the enigmatic girl journalist laughed. "I've got plenty of secrets of my own, Kurusu Akira."

"Alright, then," Akira said eagerly, "well, do tell me one secret. And you need to answer this one, properly. No cop-outs or convenient truths, you got that?"

Newspaper Girl nodded understandingly.

"Great. In that case, why are you here today—新聞 女性? Why did you come to see me?"

The girl took a deep breath, and, slowly deliberating, answered, "Akira… I came because…"

A pause. A stare. And a plea…

"I need your help."

* * *

 _ **okay, gahhh that was hard and I wrote an entire chapter note but SOMEHOW accidentally closed the whole page and lost it all. Crap. Whatever.**_

 _ **I wrote some of this on a plane. I'm in Mexico now. Studying abroad. Stuff and stuff. I have to adult and stuff etc.**_

 _ **I also had a bitch of a time formatting all those stars and shit. Writing is hard just like Pumpkin said. I mean, Pumpkin's basically me, except a girl, asexual, investigative journalist... so really nothing like me. She's very hard to write. I was pretty worried about her voice being inconsistent. Lemme know if it's good or not.**_

 _ **My Ko-fi still exists and is properly linked to my pay pal now, so I can now take any contributions straightaway instead of screwing around with stuff n stuff. That might be helpful if you wanna. Won't say much more about that.**_

 _ **Oh yeah, and the next chapter will cut back to the PTs and more action will happen etc. Hope you enjoy it and stuff.**_

 _ **Mac's at a Fourth of July thing at the moment. His comments will come later.**_

 _ **Thank you for reading. I may or may not take a nap now. Until next time, and happy 4th :)**_


	27. Unexpected Anomalies

_**Shorter chapter today! I was wondering if maybe it'd be a good idea to do shorter chapters and more frequent updates, as opposed to the 10k+ chapters Mac and I have been recently putting out about once a week. So this chapter's a bit shorter and more in the vein of some earlier installments. Got some cool stuff going. Enjoy!**_

 _ **FF specific: formatting didn't all go through again *sigh* Also, apologies for the delay in posting between AO3 and here. Was busy doing stuff and had Mac post the chapter, cept I forgot he didn't have access to my FF account sooo. Anyhoo, here it is for you FF people!**_

* * *

"Hey, shouldn't they be done soon?" Sojiro wondered as they drove around the cafe. It was shortly after midday. Akira, Ann, Ryuji and Haru had been at Shujin for quite a long time now, and their studying was expected to end in the middle of the afternoon. Sojiro, Sae, Makoto, Futaba and Yusuke had been cruising around, finding food and other items in preparation for the trip to eliminate Shido's conspiracy.

"I would think they'd be finished in about an hour or so," Makoto said as she looked at her watch. "We should await Akira's call before—"

 _RIIIIIIIIINGGGG!_

Futaba answered her phone. "Akira! Is the study session with Kawakami over?"

Makoto made an awkward face in reaction to Futaba's use of the words "study session." It did not go unnoticed by Yusuke, who turned to her curiously and started to say something. She turned away from him and looked out the window, thinking. It did remind her, Akira sometimes looked at Kawakami in a strange way. As if they knew each other quite well.

Well, of course… she had been willing to set up the study session, and she had been searching for him with everyone else. What was she worried about?

Futaba nodded, listening to Akira on the phone.

"What? Really? Sounds great!"

Makoto's attention was drawn to Futaba's excited face…

"Ohya… Shiori? That's the name?"

"The name?" Yusuke wondered, now looking at Futaba with great interest in his eyes. "The name of whom?"

"Is this person related to Ohya Ichiko? Akira's journalist friend?" Makoto asked.

"Is this more work to do with Palaces?" Sae wondered. "Does this Ohya have something to do with Shido?"

"Her sister?!" Futaba cried in surprise. Everyone stared at her in shock. A sister? Of whom?

"Alright, I'll get the card printed. What do you want it to say?"

* * *

Days passed. Exams came and went. I barely studied for them, but I had no worries about it. I had always consistently achieved good scores.

Dekishi-san did not cry again. She barely spoke to me in Student Council meetings. The plan to reform the bread economy was a failure—she purchased a load of pre-made bread from the store, but it was soon discovered that the bread is actually made at Shujin in a tiny kitchen. It wasn't bread that was needed, but ingredients.

Dekishi was extremely upset by this. "No one on the staff told me they needed ingredients! That would have been easy! I have plenty of flour at home that we don't need! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE SAY ANYTHING?!"

I shrugged. "But Dekishi-san, we did tell you that. The Student Council kept telling you that the bread gets cooked here, but you just screamed at them to shut up. And at me too. You just never listened to us."

"HOW WOULD I KNOW," shouted Dekishi, ignoring me, "anything about the bread… I don't eat bread!"

For a girl who didn't eat bread, she had bought quite a lot of it. Boxes and boxes of bread were stacked all about the Student Council room. Some other council members had taken it upon themselves to bring noodles to fit between the bread.

"It isn't all bad, Dekishi-san. We have yakisoba for days." I had in fact begun writing an article about it entitled _**THE STUDENT COUNCIL'S YAKISOBA FOR DAYS.**_ More boring nonsense about Shujin. At least I had written one last exciting thing before I graduated.

Dekishi was evidently not pleased by the thought of managing the consumption of about two hundred sandwiches. "BREAD GIVES ME A HEADACHE!" she shrieked. "And I don't even care about students not being able to afford bread around here or the quality of it! I just want people to be happy! Why isn't anyone happy that I went to all this trouble to feed the students?! It doesn't make any _**fucking SENSE!"**_

"Gee, I don't know. You _do_ insult everyone in the Student Council on a daily basis over extremely trivial things," I reminded her, "and I'm pretty sure most of them actually wanted you to reorganize the music club."

"I don't like music!"

"You're just talking nonsense now." It was a well-known fact that she frequently listened to pop music when she wasn't screaming at and/or making advances upon the other students, or bossing me around as her unofficial secretary.

Dekishi continued throwing her tantrum in the background, while I went on writing in my notebook and nonchalantly observing her actions. Eventually, she tore open a pack of bread and made herself some yakisoba. I wasn't really sure why. Hadn't she just said it was going to give her a headache? The things she did sometimes…

Before long, Dekishi passed out and was soon sleeping like a baby on the meeting table. A member of the Student Council entered the room, and looked concerned when she saw Miss President collapsed there.

"Uh… Newspaper-chan," the council member said shyly, "Is Dekishi-san… ?"

I chuckled at being called that. "She's fine. Don't worry, she's only taking a nap."

"But, is our meeting…"

"No one showed up for the meeting. Don't worry about it."

"Oh…" the girl seemed disappointed. She turned and slowly left the room.

I stayed, continuing to write about the failure.

* * *

The last day of school for this year had come quickly, and then swiftly left my memory. The buzz about Niijima Makoto had died down. Dekishi Misako was graduating. Stuff was happening, the world was spinning, my writing was still boring. My article about the bread was boring, and I never published it. Instead, I began writing a blog about myself.

About all the interesting things I had never seen.

There was nothing left of my life but an endless void full of inconsequential events. But as a writer, I could make such things meaningful. So that's what I did. I wrote on and on about the strange things I saw in Tokyo's neighborhoods, stray animals, vending machines, and the strange habits of local residents.

I even tried writing fiction, but, I'd never been much interested in that. My life was so strange when I thought about it, that all I needed to do to write any compelling fiction story was change the names of everyone involved. What would be the point in that? I suppose it could remove the reader's bias, and frame the world through a different lens. But that was a double-edged sword, as, it seemed most readers don't take fictional stories seriously. That quite frustrated me the more I thought about it. It was already hard enough to get people to take my nonfiction writing seriously. And even then…

I kept thinking about this for awhile as I tapped away on an old laptop. I'd never really bothered with a laptop before, as I hadn't much cared for technology. But my father had left one behind, and since I started blogging I had decided to make use of it. Since no one else was. It was problematic, however, that it often froze up and refused to respond to commands for long periods of time. During such periods, I would generally decide to take out my notebook and scribble away with both my hands, continuing whatever thoughts I was typing as I went along…

My mother turned on the light.

"Pumpkin."

Her voice was sharp, and thick with anger. I turned my head slightly to catch a glimpse of her. She looked absolutely furious.

"Mother…"

"I called Ichiko."

I dropped my notebook and pen and spun around to fully meet her eyes, closing the dated laptop.

"And so what? So I happened to run into Auntie Ichiko. Whatever. It's a small world!"

"You wanted to see her."

"She just happened to walk into where I was!"

"You were in a _bar._ The same bar to which she so often comes. It was no chance meeting. You were there to see your aunt! And not only that… but you were seen speaking to very dangerous people!"

"Mother, I—"

"What were you doing talking to that host in Shinjuku?! Or that deranged fortune teller?!"

"I don't know what you're talking abo—SHE'S NOT DERANGED!" I shouted at her before I could stop myself. "SHE'S A REAL FORTUNE TELLER! SHE'S NOT A CON WOMAN! NOT A PHONY! Not phony… like… Father…"

Mother looked absolutely livid. "Your father… was… don't talk about him."

I looked up at my mother timidly. "But I didn't… I was only…"

She pulled out another notebook.

My _other_ notebook.

"You… you went through my notebooks without asking?!"

"I don't have to ask. I'm your mother; I can do whatever I please with your notebooks. Like—" she tore out a page, "this. Or this—" she tore the page in half, "or this, or this, or this." As she spoke, she tore away more pages, and began splitting apart more and more and more of them, much to my horror.

I couldn't believe it… she had never done anything so cruel. Most of the time she had never done anything at all, just lectured me. I had never seen her like this before.

"N-no…" I began to cry. "My… my writing… Mother, please don't do this…"

"You're right," she responded coldly, "it's much more efficient to do this instead." She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out of my room. I yelped in pain as she dragged me to the kitchenette. She then dropped me roughly to the floor, and, standing by the stove, turned on the burner…

"No!" I cried, "you… you can't…"

She ignored me, holding the notebook above the open flame. Nearly half my thoughts from the past month. My lifeline. So many things I had written down only for myself, or that I hadn't yet gotten to writing about. Things I wouldn't be able to remember or ever see the same way again. She may as well have been about to burn my memories.

I wanted to do something to stop her, but I was frozen in shock. I couldn't… couldn't ever… no… I wouldn't stand for this! My mother couldn't burn my notes!

But I did…

And she did…

An acrid scent came to me, that of ink burning. Smoke floated through the room, and the alarms went off. Mother ignored them, simply waving it away with a newspaper as my notebook kept on blazing upon the top of the stove…

"We're moving."

"What?!" I couldn't believe it. Again? But we couldn't ever…

"You heard me," Mother was dead serious. "We're going to move far far away from here. Where you're safe. You can't seem to handle Tokyo. You're not going back to Shujin."

"But… Mother… I-I can't!" Shujin was my school. Tokyo was where I belonged. As much as I might find it strange, or dislike it sometimes, even detest it, it was where I ought to be. We couldn't leave it… We'd been here nearly four years. The longest we had ever stayed in one place.

"How are you going to get the money? We can't, not after Father—"

Mother's teeth gritted at the mention of Father. "He doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. We're leaving in four days. We're going to take the car and go away."

"You're just taking us away? Without a plan? Money? You can't do that! And that car needs repairs… We'll get ourselves killed! You don't know what could—"

"I know what could well enough!" she shouted. "And we're going to do it! No questions! Be a good Pumpkin and LISTEN TO ME!"

I closed my mouth and hung my head meekly. I'd lost this argument. Nothing to do about it.

Mother opened up the fridge and retrieved a small container of leftovers. Disgusting, outdated leftovers, made of miscellaneous food bits and trash that didn't go together. She tossed it at me.

"Eat this."

"No… Mother! This is garbage! It's been sitting in there for nearly seven weeks!"

"EAT IT!" she screamed. She dropped a spoon at my feet. "You'll eat it, or I'll throw you out!"

She couldn't throw me out. She'd be in trouble with the authorities if she did that. But it seemed she wouldn't care…

I did not sleep well that night.

* * *

I left early the following morning, the 27th, as my mother slept… And did not go home. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't leave. But I also couldn't stay. I texted Auntie Ichiko, informing her of the situation. She wasn't talkative much. She only had one response: _That sucks._

She was probably too drunk to offer much more than that.

I sat around in Shibuya late into the evening, obsessively trying to reproduce all the notes my mother had burned. I didn't know if I was writing things correctly. Soon enough, I stopped caring. I just wrote all that I remembered about Akira and Makoto and…

No, Kurusu-kun. Niijima-san. Why was I…

The news went on the jumbo screens in the city. I looked up to see them broadcasting some boring special report.

 _"The Phantom Thieves… criminals… murderers… teenagers… WATCH, as we uncover the truth…"_

etc etc. It seemed pretty stupid. More sensationalized nonsense.

I kept on writing.

And on and on and on…

There was a loud _fuzz_ and a humming noise of microphone feedback… I barely heard it… until a rather distinguished voice emerged amidst all the other noise.

 _ **"YO!** What is **UP,** everybody!"_

Some sort of jazz song began playing.

 _"We are the ones who you all know as the Phantom Thieves."_

I stopped writing and dropped my notebook in surprise and astonishment.

The Phantom Thieves… ? Could it be?! It… it…

I pondered this for a moment as they kept talking.

 _"You might be wondering how we are still alive… and the answer to that is, we aren't. We are broadcasting this to you all from a world beyond!"_

"A world… beyond?" I gasped, slowly rising to my feet and retrieving my notebook. Had they cheated death somehow? I pulled out my phone and sent Auntie Ichiko a text.

She responded promptly with the confirmation I had hoped for.

* * *

The following morning, I made my way to Shujin Academy once again. Kurusu-kun would be found inside, if Auntie Ichiko was correct. If they had in fact come back. I rushed to the back entrance, then stopped in my tracks when suddenly, I had a thought…

How was I to know if I could trust Kurusu Akira?

What if something bad happened?

I decided there was only one way to be absolutely certain. I needed to conduct an interview. A different sort of interview. A test of trust.

So I entered and I waited outside the second year classrooms… before long, I heard voices.

"I think I'm gonna go buy some sweets."

 _Takamaki._

I smiled to myself, thinking of the terrific fit Arashi Mika might have when she found out.

A cat meowed. All was silent for a few seconds, as if they were listening to him.

"Thanks, Morgana."

How strange…

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts continued talking for a moment, and then, the instant I saw most of them go, I emerged from around the corner. And there was…

"Kurusu Akira, was it?"

The boy's black hair was as unkempt as ever, and his eyes looked rather tired beneath the lenses of his glasses.

We talked for a moment, and I offered to tell him my story, carefully omitting some of the most important parts.

* * *

"Until now."

Akira stared at the girl nervously. "I… you want us to…"

"Please."

"You're sure."

"I'm sure. Please change her. _Please."_ The newspaper club member looked desperate. As if she might cry, but just a little bit. "I can't move again. Especially not like this. I can't let my mother place us in such danger."

Akira thought it over a moment.

"What's her name?"

* * *

 _The newspaper club member asked me to change her mother's heart._

 _She seems to trust me even more than before now…_

 _ **CONFIDANT -**_ Newspaper Club Member

 **ARCANA** _Art **RANK UP!**_

[Rank 8. stars cut from FF.]

* * *

"Ohya Shiori," Akira said to the Metanav. It beeped affirmatively.

 _Candidate found._

A Shadow in the Path of Adyeshach, it seemed.

"We'll do it. Just let me call someone."

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you… thank you!" She gave Akira a tight hug. "I was so worried you were going to say no there!"

"I wouldn't dream of letting you down," Akira told her, returning the embrace. "I couldn't ignore your case after hearing all you've said to me. You're a very talented writer. You don't deserve a mother like that."

She looked at him gratefully. They broke the embrace, and he pulled out his phone. As he did so, he heard Ryuji call out…

"Hey, dude! How's it—" he stopped mid-sentence when he saw Newspaper Girl. "Whoa, who's this?"

"Uh… hello." Haru smiled at the teenage journalist. "Do you know Akira?"

"Yes," she replied, "and I know you too, Okumura-san." She gave her a slight bow.

"Ah, that's right," Ann realized, "you're the newspaper girl!"

"The newspaper girl?" Ryuji wondered, "what're you and Akira up to here?"

"Oooh!" Morgana seemed a little excited. "Akira, is she the one who—"

"I'll explain later," Akira told them, cutting Morgana off. "For now, I need to—"

"All right everyone, break time's over," Kawakami announced.

"Give me a minute here," Akira said. "I need to call Futaba about something."

* * *

"Akira wants us to print a calling card," Yusuke wondered, "at a time like this? For whom?"

"Someone's in trouble," Futaba replied. "A newspaper club member. Her mom's gone totally crazy trying to protect her. They're going to drive away from Tokyo with no plan and no money and a broken car full of terrible food."

"A newspaper club member?" Makoto was quiet a moment… "Oh, that's right. The only one left. She was always conducting frivolous interviews with me about the state of the Student Council. She seemed quite bored of it. I never caught her name…"

"Akira also says you've been replaced," Futaba informed Makoto, "by a 'Dekishi Misako.'"

"Misako?" Makoto recalled. "Oh. Well, I suppose that was going to happen eventually. She was always so determined."

"Who is this Dekishi?" Sae inquired.

"A rival of mine at school," Makoto said. "She was competing with me for the top student spot all the time. We were the frontrunners in the Student Council President election last year."

"I see," Sae mused. "You may have mentioned her… I probably wasn't listening."

"Anyway," Sojiro said, "I guess we've gotta go to that store where you had me buy that printer, right Futaba?"

"Yep yep," Futaba confirmed, "and then I need to print up a copy of the Phantom Thieves calling card. I'll make sure no one sees what I'm doing." She removed her glasses and put her hair up in a bun. "Sojirooo," she said enthusiastically, "I need some of those clothes I don't like!"

"Sure thing." Sojiro chuckled as he tossed her a bag of some oddly colored clothes. Futaba unbuckled her seatbelt, climbed to the back where she was hidden from view, and began changing.

"You're going in by yourself?" Makoto asked, sounding concerned. "Are you sure you'll be able to handle that?"

"Yeah!" Futaba assured her, "I'll be fine! Now that I've cleared all the quests on my mom's promise list, it should be real easy to get in and out of there!" She finished changing and emerged back into her seat again, now wearing a strange tye-dyed shirt and old, partially broken blue sandals held together by tape. "All I gotta worry about is not having these on," she added, handing Makoto her glasses. "Make sure you hang onto them!"

"Do you have contact lenses by any chance?" Yusuke asked.

"No," Futaba answered, "those are too expensive! And too hard! It'd be gross to touch my own eyeballs!"

"I wouldn't mind touching eyeballs," Yusuke commented. "I wonder if they feel hard or squishy."

"Well, shut it, Inari, you aren't going to touch mine!"

"That's not what I was trying to imply. It was simply hypothetical."

"Kids, quit bickering!" Sojiro told them, "we're here!"

"All right, let's do this!" Futaba swiftly got out of the van and rushed into the printer store.

"I hope everything goes well," Makoto said nervously. "Boss, do you have some old magazines we can cut up?"

* * *

"But why do you need a calling card?" Newspaper Girl asked, "I didn't know any of those other small targets to have received any, only the bigger fish like Kaneshiro and Shido."

The studying was over, and Kawakami was now chilling in the classroom, waiting for Akira and everyone else to leave the school so she could lock the doors.

"Well," Akira explained, "most of the time for small targets like your mom, people would post the requests on the Phansite, or we would make public posts saying their names. If we took a request on, we'd make a comment replying to them saying we'd do it, or have Mishima act as our proxy. We'd check to make sure the target got the message. Generally they'd reply on the Phansite, usually expressing outrage at being 'threatened' or something along those lines."

"Okay, well, that answers one question, but what does it do?"

"It's… complicated." Akira shook his head apologetically. "But if you don't show the card to your mom, we can't steal her heart. It'll be impossible."

"You can't post about it on the Phansite?"

"Well, I thought you'd have wanted to keep this between us. Would you rather that everyone at school knows about your issues with your mom?"

Newspaper Girl sighed and shrugged. "Okay, I guess that makes sense. I won't question the steps of your process."

Akira's phone buzzed. "Hang on a moment." He looked at the text.

 **Futaba:** We're right outside! I have the calling card!

"I'll be back with the card in a minute," Akira told Newspaper Girl, "don't move an inch!"

He rushed downstairs and outside to the back of the school, where Sojiro had parked.

"Hey, Akira!" Futaba yelled, getting out of the car. Makoto, Yusuke, Sae, and Sojiro were all smiling and waving from inside. Futaba was holding the freshly made calling card in her hand, the magazine letters having only just been glued onto the base about an hour or so ago. Akira noticed a pile of paper scraps in the back of the van.

"Futaba!" Akira replied, delighted. "You got it! Hey, where are your glasses?"

"Oh, uh—" Futaba nervously touched her glasses-less face. "Disguise."

"Ah, I see. Clever." Akira smiled at her proudly. "By the way, how's the data decryption coming along?"

"It's going fantastic!" Futaba said excitedly. "Almost done. We should know the names of our targets soon enough! There should just be enough time for us to take care of Ohya's sister while that gets worked on."

"Excellent. I gotta take this to the newspaper club member. I'll be back in a bit."

* * *

"All right," Akira said triumphantly, "here's the calling card!" He held it out to Newspaper Girl, who took it, slowly and carefully…

"Soo… I give this to my mom."

"You have to make sure she sees it. Somehow."

"And then you can steal her heart."

"That's the idea."

"Okay. Okay."

* * *

"Okay."

I breathed in and out slowly and deliberately. I was…

"Are you nervous?"

I was.

"Yes. I-I've never thought of doing anything like this before," I confessed quietly. "I… I don't know if it's the right decision. But it's the only thing I can do…"

"You can change your mind," Akira said kindly.

Change my mind. Hmm. Would she…

"Will she be okay? Mother? I…"

Akira looked at me, seeming a little concerned. "What's on your mind?"

"I wonder how it would feel… if you did this to me. It's like… when you think about it. Stealing a heart…"

The implications of that phrase were pretty heavy. What would Mother feel when they brought about the change? Or what if it didn't have the impact I intended? What if it backfired and she came out even worse? So many things I was unsure of…

"'Stealing' a heart is sort of… an expression." Akira was very patient in his words. "It's more like healing. Especially in this kind of case. We just say stealing because, well, it sounds better. And it feels a lot like stealing."

"It does, eh?" I smiled softly at the thought. "Has anyone ever told you what it feels like?"

"Well," Akira mused, "I actually don't know. But it doesn't involve physical means. I can't imagine that it hurts at all. The only person who we talked to after a change of heart was Futaba, but her case was pretty unusual. She said she didn't feel anything, though. She just went into a coma for awhile."

That was kind of concerning. "What if Mother has a coma like that?"

"I don't think that'll happen," Akira told me confidently. "It never happened with anyone else. Futaba sleeps a lot anyway, so it was probably just her."

"If you're sure…"

"Don't worry," Akira's face was pleasant and calm. "You can trust us. Are you really sure you want us to do this? We can call it off whenever." He placed a calm, firm, comforting hand on my shoulder.

I thought it over a moment longer. My mother was quite forceful, yes. Controlling, even. Manipulative and cruel. She had become more and more so over the years as they passed… When my father had still been around, it had been even worse. He'd controlled us, me and my mother. He'd hurt her. He'd made her this way.

And now it was as if my father was here again…

Thinking about my father—how terrible he had been, how much pain he had brought and all that had happened to me and Mother because of him—my mind was made up. I'd had plenty of time to think this over. It was my only option.

"Yes," I told Akira, my face hardened like steel. "I trust you. Please do it."

He nodded, signaling his understanding. "I will."

As he set forth that promise, I felt my heart lifting…

* * *

I have made a final decision regarding my mother's change of heart. Akira and I share a special understanding…

 _ **CONFIDANT -**_ Kurusu Akira

 **ARCANA** _Fool **RANK UP!**_

[9 stars cut from FF.]

* * *

"Hey," Kawakami called out, "I'm really trying to leave. Are you all done here?"

Akira and Newspaper Girl turned around. "Er…"

"Yeah," Akira replied, "we'll be on our way now."

Kawakami's phone chimed. She checked it and read the message. "Oh, it seems I'm missing another one of Mishima's meetings…"

"Mishima? What's he doing?"

"It seems they're about to watch the press conference about Shido. Looks like I'll miss it."

"The press conference?" Akira said confusedly, before remembering. "Oh right! Shido's confession!"

* * *

"So," Mishima said happily to the SPTDDS, "now that the Phantom Thieves are no longer dead, we need a new name. What about it, everyone?"

"A new name, eh?" Iwai mused. "I gotta say, the old name was kind of a mouthful. I'm open to a change."

"What should we call it, though?" Hifumi wondered. "The previous name, Secret Phantom Thieves Death Denial Society. Should it be something similar?"

"Maybe," Takemi agreed coolly, "but we should have it be easy to remember, and suit our new purpose."

"Our new purpose…" Chihaya was thoughtful a moment. "Well, perhaps we should think about what we've been doing since…"

"Since the reveal!" Ohya chimed in. "Yeah! We've been cheering them on!"

"So we should make cheering for them part of our purpose," Shinya agreed, "all right!"

"We could say, 'endorsement,' I suppose," Yoshida proposed. "It sounds dignified."

"Endorsement, huh…" Mishima mused, "Alright, I got it! How about…" he stared off into space for a moment or two, before saying, "The Secret Phantom Thieves Enthusiam and Endorsement Society!"

Everyone looked very puzzled by Mishima's suggestion.

"Sooo… SPTEES?" Hifumi asked.

"Er…" Iwai shook his head. "That's still a mouthful."

"No. It's not inaccurate, but just. No." Ohya was pretty adamant.

"Okay…" Mishima rethought it a moment. "Hmm… Secret Phantom Thieves Enthusiastic Enthusiam and Endorsement while Defending Their Honor Society!"

Everyone groaned loudly. _"NOOOOOOOOOO!"_

Mishima sighed. "Why?"

"Too many words!" Shinya groaned. "It was, er—Secret, Phantom, Enthusiasm, what?! I can't remember all that!"

"Well then what would be the right amount of words?!" Mishima was extremely frustrated.

"You're not using incorrect words, exactly," Yoshida told Mishima patiently. "However, you could make it much simpler. A good campaign name lives and dies on how easy it is to understand. If I were to rework your idea, I would perhaps say…" He thought a moment. "Secret Phantoms' Enduring Endorsement and Defense Society, perhaps. Much simpler."

"So… that's…" Mishima thought it over for a second. " **S** ecret **P** hantoms' **E** nduring **E** ndorsement and **D** efense **S** ociety… SPEEDS?"

"Ah, I suppose it does spell 'speeds,' Yoshida mused. "I hadn't noticed that. How observant of you, Mishima-kun."

"I like it," Hifumi said happily, "it makes sense! And the fact that it spells an actual word makes it easy to remember."

"Easier to say, anyway," Iwai agreed. "Only takes one damn syllable."

"I approve as well," Takemi chimed in.

"Wonderful!" Chihaya added cheerfully.

"And it sounds cool!" Shinya was delighted.

"Okay," Mishima decided, "then from now on, we're SPEEDS!" Everyone nodded their agreement. "Say, where's Kawakami-sensei?"

"Still teaching Akira and his friends, I think." Ohya checked the time on her phone. "No, actually she's done. And Akira's been talking to my niece…"

"You have a niece, Ohya-san?" Chihaya wondered curiously.

"Yes," Ohya confirmed, smiling. "She's an enterprising young journalist like myself. I'm quite proud of her."

"Oh? Could she be—"

Chihaya was cut short by Mishima, who abruptly shouted "It's starting!" He unmuted the TV and turned up the volume. An unnamed man began speaking.

 _"As you all may know, our Prime Minister Shido Masayoshi received a dubious threat last night from an unknown individual or individuals posing as the notorious Phantom Thieves of Hearts. The shock of this attack on his integrity has greatly wounded his pride, and so he has fallen ill. It is unknown when he shall recover, but…"_

* * *

"Wounded his 'pride?!" Ryuji was incredulous. "We all know that's a load of bullshit!"

Sojiro was driving the team to Shibuya. The van was making distinct rattling noises, which had greatly concerned Akira, but Sojiro had assured them it was nothing to worry about. He had said it probably needed a new transmission, but that for the time being it should be fine.

"Even if it did wound his pride," Yusuke pointed out, bemused, "that would simply be too bad for him. And quite frankly, that sounds like a weak cover story."

"Yes," Makoto agreed, "if a Prime Minister could be defeated by a simple challenge of his character, I would want to take their suitability for the position into question."

"Indeed," Haru added. "It's quite silly. They're not doing themselves any favors by telling people such nonsense."

"This is ridiculous…" Ann muttered.

"Hey," Akira said, pointing at the background, "ain't that Shido?"

"What? Oh, no, he's just in a picture on a sign or somethin'," Ryuji replied, barely looking at Futaba's laptop screen, on which they were all watching the message. The man continued spewing lies about the reason for Shido's absence.

"Actually, no," Futaba murmured, "I think that is…"

 _"STOP THIS NONSENSE!"_ Shido shouted as he emerged into the foreground, pushing away the man speaking and stealing away the microphone. A flurry of panic erupted in the studio around him where it was being filmed.

The Phantom Thieves all turned to listen.

 _"I cannot forgive myself for all I have done!"_

"Is he going to confess?" Sae gaped. "Right here and now?"

"I hope so!" Morgana mewed excitedly. "MURRWAHAHAHARowr~!"

"It would seem that's the case." Akira was grinning from ear to ear. "Here it comes…"

* * *

 _"The reason President Okumura passed away is… I am the one who killed him!"_

And then SPEEDS cheered.

"YEAH!" Mishima shouted triumphantly. "I knew it!"

"They did it!" Ohya was elated. "Finally, Kayo, you're getting the justice you deserve!"

* * *

 _"I also manipulated public information to make it appear that the Phantom Thieves were behind the series of incidents. The one who controlled the hearts of others and gave rise to the countless victims…_

 _"Is myself! It was all for my own promotion. For my own selfish gain."_

I was watching the whole thing play out on my phone. Dozens of people were running around freaking out, trying to do something. I wasn't sure what there was to be done anything about. I was smiling.

This was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I didn't need any more confirmation that I had made the right decision, but if I had? This would have been more than enough.

 _"I've even used people's lives as stepping stones—"_

And then someone grabbed Shido.

 _"Wha-let me go!"_ the newly resigned Prime Minister shouted in surprise, dropping the mic. _"You can't do this!"_ He began kicking and shouting, crying and yelling as he resisted the application of handcuffs to his wrists.

The man who was trying to restrain Shido waved at the cameraman, and the feed was shut off.

"Spilled the beans, huh?" Kawakami-sensei noted as she observed the reaction.

"Well, he was interrupted…"

"Ah well." She turned away and headed down the hall to the office. "You should really go home now. I need to put these books away and get out of here."

* * *

"Hey, come on," Futaba complained, "I was watching that!" She began tapping away energetically at the keyboard of her laptop.

"What are you doing?" Sae wondered.

"Changing the channel back, duh!" Futaba said, grinning, as though it should have been obvious. "Aaaaand—"

She hit the enter key, and not a minute later…

* * *

"They cut it off?" Ohya said grumpily. "Aww…"

"Man, these guys are idiots," Iwai commented, "do they really think that's gonna stop it?"

"Disappointing," Takemi lamented, "but unsurprising."

"Well," Hifumi noted, "at least we got to see—"

There was a distinct, familiar, animal-like whirr as the TV's feed went live again. Everyone looked up to see the familiar Alibaba logo being displayed for a brief moment, before cutting back to Shido. He was still resisting restraint, screaming about all the terrible things he'd done.

"What's happening?" Hifumi wondered in surprise, "Is this another of Akira's incredible tricks?"

 _"The subway accident! I killed and injured dozens with that psychotic breakdown! Men, women, children! I demand that I be tried before the law! I made my own son a murderer! My son… Akechi Goro… Goro, if you're watching this, I'm sorry! I'm a terrible father! Please! I need to say this! **I ought to atone with my life!"**_

"Oh man," Mishima gasped, "Alibaba put the broadcast back! She's amazing!"

"Alibaba? The hacker?" Shinya was amazed as well. "That's so cool!"

"You like Alibaba too?" Mishima asked. "All right!"

Mishima and Shinya shared a glorious high five.

* * *

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Futaba cackled. "No one takes the remote from Alibaba! Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…"

"That was incredible, Futaba-chan!" Haru commended. "I'm so glad you got it running again!"

"You're causing them no end of trouble," Sae noted. "I do wonder how they'll respond to the continued tricks."

"Yeah, Sae's right," Akira said in agreement. "That's quite a lot of trolling you've been doing in just two short days."

"Eh, I ain't worried about it!" Ryuji said happily, grinning at the screen. "Look at all those bastards squirming around like ants while their great leader turns against them. They'll get what's coming to them soon enough!"

 _"Hey,"_ shouted someone offscreen, _"why's this still live? Turn it off already!"_

Shido kept on shouting, his cries soon turning into unintelligible nonsense through his sobs.

 _"We can't shut it off!"_

 _"Well, then at least get Shido-san the hell out of here!"_

Before long, Shido gave up fighting, and, now successfully handcuffed, was escorted off screen.

"Are they arresting him?" Ryuji seemed confused. "Why the hell's he getting arrested by his own dudes? That doesn't make much sense!"

"I don't think that's the case," Akira noted. "It looks like they're just trying to drag him offscreen so he doesn't squeal to the camera."

"That seems to be it," Sae agreed. "They're likely going to release another outrageous cover story later on. I'm sure it will be quite frivolous…"

"Well, it doesn't matter much," Sojiro said shortly and proudly. "You all did a great job. We'd best move on with your clean up plan."

"Agreed," Yusuke said, eagerly. "We can't dawdle much longer."

"But before we go into the Metaverse," Akira reminded them, "we should wait for Newspaper Girl's confirmation. In the meantime, my Queen…" he grinned at Makoto. "You're driving, right?"

She gave him a quick peck on the lips, smiling a little awkwardly. "U-unless you want to drive, sweetheart."

"I think I'll let you do it. I like watching you drive…"

"Akira… you're too flattering. But if you want me to, then—"

"Well, also," Akira added, "you drive faster than I do. So…"

"Oh, don't fool yourself," Makoto replied sensibly. "Mona only goes so fast…"

"So do you." He winked at her with a knowing smile. She blushed.

"Akira…"

They shared a kiss for a few moments. After breaking it off, they noticed that everyone in the car was now looking at them.

"Dude," Ryuji said, "like, no offense, but can you two do that later?"

Sae nodded a bit stiffly, her face stuck between a glare and a grimace. "I may approve of your dating, but I'd rather not bear witness to your continued intimacy."

Futaba's face was, meanwhile, screwed up into a look that spoke of unwanted thoughts. "Yeah, I _really_ don't need to see my 'brother' getting all kissy-kissy-touchy-feely. I had to remove half the bugs in Leblanc 'cause of you..."

Makoto and Akira awkwardly nodded their understanding and discontinued their embrace.

"I didn't mind," Yusuke chimed in pleasantly, and everyone looked at him. His sketchpad was in hand and he was busily scribbling away on it. "It was quite a thing to see." He appeared to have been drawing the scene.

"Uhh…" Haru said slowly, "I'm not sure you ought to have done that without asking."

"I mean," Ann pointed out, "they did do it in front of us."

"Let's just not worry about it," Makoto said, her face red with embarrassment.

"Not sure what's going on back there," Sojiro commented, "but we're just about here. Are you kids all getting out now?"

"Not yet," Akira said, checking his phone. "We have to wait for Newspaper Girl…"

* * *

Kaneto Masaji was sitting around in his new office, awaiting a phone call from—

There it was now.

"Hello?"

 _"Greetings. I hope my tardiness has not been of inconvenience."_

"Not at all, sir."

 _"So Shido has confessed, the Phantom Thieves have baffled you and your accomplices, and the prosecutor woman has joined their ranks. My my, how… entertaining."_

"Yeah, so, what the hell are we supposed to do about it?!"

 _"I haven't the foggiest idea, the voice said, but it is worth noting that she came to the SIU last night. It isn't certain what her motive was, but she hasn't been seen since."_

"Whatever… isn't there somewhere we can go? Somewhere the thieves might have gone after running away? Something? Goddamn it, anything?!"

 _"I think you can answer that question yourself, Kaneto."_

"I don't think—"

 _"Where is the one place these impudent children visited day after day after day? Consistently without fail. How could you forget such a simple fact? No wonder you are so incompetent."_

Kaneto Masaji was infuriated at having been insulted, but he knew better than to take it out on the man who had been Shido's greatest benefactor. So he thought a moment.

"… the school?"

 _"Precisely. So it would stand to reason that perhaps you should send someone to look about at Shujin Academy. However, due to the unfortunate understaffed condition of your cause, you have no one to deliver on this mission."_

"What about the guy we sent to—"

 _"It seems he was accosted by several irate locals. He has been unavailable since he went to buy a new suit, after his old one was ruined with pieces of fruit and… other such trivial detritus."_

"What? That was the only agent we had! Can't you—"

 _"Not my concern."_

"So what the hell am I—"

 _"I am not interested in getting involved, Kaneto. Figure it out yourself. I trust you can resolve your own sorry conundrums. Now if you'll excuse me…"_

The man hung up, leaving Kaneto irritated and confused. Who was he supposed to send? He couldn't send the police, since they'd proved useless. All of his associates were busy with more important matters. And he…

Actually, Kaneto Masaji had nothing better to do.

"What am I thinking," he said aloud. "I'm being a wimp! I should just go catch them myself!"

And with that, Kaneto exited his office and headed for his car.

* * *

After watching the end of Shido's confession and saying goodbye to Kawakami-sensei, I took the calling card Akira had given me and rushed home… I hadn't spoken to my mother since the incident. We were leaving tomorrow. Unless we weren't. Either way, I had to get this to her fast. And then it would be up to Kurusu Akira and the Phantom Thieves.

I left it on the fridge when she wasn't looking and awaited her reaction. It wasn't even ten minutes later when she finally saw it.

"Pumpkin!" she screamed. "What is this? Did you put this here?!"

"Nope," I said nonchalantly as I continued writing away in my notebook. "No clue what you might be talking about."

"'Madame Ohya Shiori…'" Mother read, "'your Wrath and paranoia has led you to forcing a life of misery on those around you. The world is dark and dangerous, we Phantom Thieves know this all too well—which is why we're coming for your heart next. You plan on robbing your daughter of the life she's made for herself in a twisted sense of preservation, thus denying her happiness. Therefore we shall steal away your distorted desires in order to save the both of you. From, the Phantom Thieves…'"

She closed her mouth and began fuming. "They would think… what… is this real?!"

"I don't know." I frowned, but inside I was smiling. Everything seemed to be going as planned. I texted Akira under the table with my right hand as I kept writing with my left…

Meanwhile, Mother began pacing back and forth throughout the room restlessly. "I can't believe this," she gasped to herself, "it has to be a joke! Phantom Thieves… it can't seriously be happening… I _know_ you took this home, Pumpkin, to unnerve me, I just _know_ it…"

* * *

"The calling card got delivered to her mom!" Akira told everyone. "Now let's go track her down in Mementos!"

"All right!" Ryuji cheered. "Spending most of the day studying was a drag… but I'm pumped after Shido's confession! Nothing like goin' to beat up some Shadows after a long day of school shit! Let's do this!"

"I hope everything works out for them," Ann said hopefully. "After we change her…"

"It'll work," Akira said with a simple confidence in his voice.

"Where is Mementos exactly?" Sae inquired.

"The Shibuya underground!" Morgana said. "And… speaking of Mementos… I feel like I'm forgetting something…"

"Forgetting something?" Makoto wondered. "Morgana, are you alright?"

The cat seemed quite fatigued and confused. "Er… it's probably nothing," he said, "I think it must just be… I don't know."

"Must have gotten too tired in that desk," Akira suggested, ruffling his fur.

"Yes," Haru decided, "that must be it. You're sure it wasn't something else, Mona-chan?"

Morgana was quiet.

"It doesn't matter right now," Mona decided. "We should get into Mementos."

The Phantom Thieves all got out of the van, approached the station entrance, and navigated into the Metaverse.

"All right!" Joker tightened his gloves. "We have one target in Adyeshach. Let's go everyone!"

The team all cheered their assent, thoroughly energized. But as they turned to go, there was a loud and familiar chime. Though the rest of the team did not respond, Joker stopped in his tracks.

"Prisoner," a calm voice called out. "We would like a word with you. You have set forth a catalyst for numerous abnormalities which has caught our master's attention. Myself and Caroline have questions as well…"

Joker turned to the Velvet Room door. Come to think of it, it hadn't appeared in Shido's Palace. Why was that… ?

"What did I do?" he inquired. "What exactly do you want?"

"Please come," Justine implored gently, gesturing towards the open cell door. "We will explain. Do not worry. You know full well there is plenty of time in your prison…"

 _What does Igor want with me?_ Akira wondered quietly. _I guess only one way to find out…_ He started towards the door.

"Joker!" Fox called out. "What are you doing? Is something wrong?"

"Is he leaving us?" Queen wondered. "He can't… Joker!"

"Oh no," groaned Skull, "he's gonna do that weird thing again…"

"What weird thing?" Ace asked. "Is this normal?"

Ignoring their voices, Akira stepped through the gateway. A moment later his arms were clad in iron, his body covered in black and white…

"You have come," Igor said pleasantly. "We have a great deal to discuss. There have been many unexpected anomalies."

* * *

Kaneto Masaji had been running for about twenty minutes through the streets of Tokyo after his car had failed him. It had moved about fifteen feet through the public parking garage before a tire blew out.

Not possessing a spare, nor having the time to change it even if he had, Kaneto had opted to abandon the vehicle and go it on foot instead. At first he had been rather disappointed and irritated. But after seeing the busy traffic cluttering the streets at this hour, he figured this was actually the best outcome.

Kaneto approached Shujin, contemplating its appearance. It looked like a rather grey and boring school, certainly not one that would house a Phantom Thief. A distinguished place of learning, supposedly. Hm. Apart from its unusually stark appearance, Kaneto didn't see much distinguishing it.

He approached the doors, and tried them, finding them to be open. This was odd. It was currently winter break. It would be expected that the school would be closed. This was certainly a telltale sign that something was up here.

He entered the school, and was instantly tickled by the air conditioning which was clearly cranked up way too high. This was absolutely suspicious. But after a thorough examination of all the halls on all the floors, Kaneto spotted nothing else of note other than some of the lights having been left on, which was, in and of itself, hardly suspicious. Perhaps Shujin simply liked to pay a big electric bill.

Thus, as he concluded his search of the second floor, Kaneto decided that his work was done here. There was nothing worthy of note. This had been a waste of his time.

But as he turned to leave, he heard a female voice in the distance…

Turning his head, Kaneto caught sight of a nearby office door closing. Another odd occurrence. There were no people here… except one person, evidently. Besides himself of course. Hmm. He quietly approached the door, which was then flung open, hitting him in the face. Kaneto fell over, uttering a muffled curse.

Getting up again as he rubbed his face and blinked his eyes, he moved a good distance away as he regained his bearings and reassessed his surroundings.

"Hey!" a woman called out. She was a tired-looking skinny person with dark brown hair, evidently a teacher. Although, Kaneto thought she looked much too young to be a teacher, but what else would she be doing here if she weren't? Of course, it was possible that she had come to rob the school. Or perhaps she was simply a janitor. But he didn't see anything in her possession which would lend credence to either, so he quickly dismissed both possibilities.

"What are you doing here?" the woman said suspiciously, "I don't recognize you."

"I'm Kaneto Masaji," Kaneto told her, showing a false ID which he had hastily prepared. Under close scrutiny, its counterfeit qualities would be instantly obvious, but he hoped that at a glance, it would be sufficiently convincing if accompanied by a proper show of confidence. "I'm a detective. Ma'am, this school is a crime scene."

"Er… no," the teacher replied skeptically, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. Kaneto couldn't pin his finger on why, but she looked rather familiar. "I don't believe it is. Who are you really?"

Kaneto stored the ID in his pocket and approached the young woman in what he hoped was an intimidating manner. "I'm here to investigate the grave crimes which took place here. It is a case of extreme gravity. Please tell me, ma'am, have you seen anyone here besides yourself today?"

"No, I've been here all on my own today. I was sick for a few days before the break, and am catching up on all the work assignments I needed to grade. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to close everything down. If you'd like to speak more, then please wait outside as I turn the lights off."

The teacher took a few steps away from Kaneto, but he gripped her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"I insist that we speak now, ma'am. Can't have you running away, now can I?"

* * *

"I… I can't stand this anymore!" Mother suddenly cried out. She had been nervously moving about our apartment for the past fifteen minutes, her motions and mutterings growing more and more erratic as the time dragged on. Though it hadn't been that long…

I looked up from my notebook. "Mother?"

"If the Phantom Thieves are really after me…" she stopped pacing and stood in place, looking quite distraught. "I don't… I can't…"

"Are you alright?"

"NO!" she shrieked in fury. "And it's all because you brought home that threatening calling card!"

"Mother, I didn't—"

 ** _"DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!"_ ** she screamed. "Whatever these Phantom Thieves intend on doing to me, I won't let them! They won't find me!" Mother grabbed ahold of me and began pulling towards the door to my room. "Pack your bags! We're leaving. Right now!"

"Oh no…" I said quietly to myself. "Akira, hurry!"

Hopefully whatever the Phantom Thieves were about to do to my mother in order to change her was not bound by physical distance. Hopefully…

* * *

"What did I do?" Akira asked apprehensively from behind the bars, as Caroline and Justine regarded him with a mix of curiosity and irateness. Despite the warden's eternal smile, Akira sensed that Igor was terribly annoyed…

"You've surprised me," Igor noted. "Not even I could have anticipated the feat you pulled off. It seems neither did you. It has greatly disrupted my… expectations."

"Expectations?" Akira was quite frustrated with Igor's attitude. "Could you try and not be all so fucking 'mysterious hocus pocus' like, just for once?!"

Caroline banged on the cell door, causing Akira to jump away. "How dare you speak that way to our master! You'd do well to remember where you are, inmate!"

Igor laughed his usual condescending laugh. "Haha, do not worry. The prisoner has made a reasonable request. Allow me to clarify…"

* * *

 ** _I hope that trio of ending hooks was sufficiently exciting. I had a commenter on FF tell me they wanted to see Futaba without her glasses, and well, I gotta give the peeps what they want, I guess! Also really excited to follow up on that bit with Igor._**

 ** _Lots of people seemed to like the idea of the Confidants forming a secret group, but didn't find the name memorable. Well, that name was back when I didn't have Mac helping me. With our combined brainpower we came up with something much cooler that actually spells a word. So, glad that turned out well!_**

 ** _There were also a number of things we changed here and there about just general stuff, so, anyway, feel free to ask questions if you have any! And Mac's notes will go here-ish:_**

 **Mac here, and first off, happy late-July-4th! Hope your week's been pleasant, and all that. Holidays like this one tend to throw my sleep schedule out of whack, which sucks. Anyways, onto the fic!**

 **I, too, am interested in your thoughts on the three cliffhangers. Will Kawakami awaken her Persona against this strange, and kinda creepy man? Will Pumpkin's mom learn to yodel? Has Igor finally decided who he's taking to Prom?!**

 **None of these questions will be answered, but perhaps YOU can answer that last one for me! Thank you, and good night!**


	28. Turning Keys

She glared at Kaneto Masaji with a tired, impatient look in her eyes.

"Fiiiiiiine! But at least let me turn off the lights first. Pleeeease?" She gripped Kaneto's arm, and forcibly removed it from her shoulder. "Walk with me, why don't you?"

Her voice sounded quite familiar. It unsettled Kaneto quite a bit. He was certain he had seen her somewhere before.

"Are you… ?"

The teacher looked quite uneasy. "Yes?" she asked cautiously. "Am I what?" She turned to take a good look at her unwanted guest, when a mix of dread and recognition flickered in her eyes. "Wait… you look like…"

It appeared that she remembered as well. Kaneto now recalled where he'd met this woman. It had been that one late night when he'd gotten bored and called for…

"Becky?"

Becky looked terrified by the recognition. "You're one of my clients… we… we did… why are you here?! I don't do that anymore! It was a mistake. Get out of here at once!"

"I-I-I…" Kaneto stammered.

"Wait… not only that," Becky gasped, "but I've seen you on TV! You were dragging away Shido! That illegitimate Prime Minister whose heart changed!"

"What? I… that wasn't me?!" Kaneto was desperate. He had indeed been the one who seized Shido during the broadcast earlier that day, trying to get him away from the camera before he spilled every little thing. He had been quite irritated when no one else had been helping at first. It was aggravating that he so often had to do everything himself.

But Becky was not to know this, of course.

"I don't know what you're talking about! You must have mistaken me for someone else. I've never been on TV in my life!"

"You're either here to monitor me," Becky said slowly, "or kill me, or because you have some sort of sick obsession with me… Whatever the case, you're not welcome! I know who you are! You'd best leave this instant!" She turned and ran away from him. "I do hope we never see each other again!"

"Wha-" Kaneto rushed after her. "Wait! "I… this is all a misunderstanding! I'm not here for that! I just want to ask you some questions! BECKY!"

"My name is not Becky!" Becky yelled as she burst out of the school entrance. She turned back to him, her face having shifted from fear to disgust. "You must not be a very bright or worthwhile man if you thought that was my real name!"

"Well then," Kaneto said nervously, "can I have your real na—"

"NO!" the teacher shouted, "I'm not giving away my real name to you! Don't EVER come here again!"

Kaneto kept running, but the teacher/maid was faster and soon reached her car. He lost sight of her shortly after that. Giving up the chase, he slumped his shoulders in defeat and started to head back to the office.

He could certainly agree with her on one thing. It had been a mistake. Kaneto wasn't certain that calling Becky in and of itself was in error, but mentioning it to her today certainly had been. Kaneto strongly hoped that no one else would ever find out about his meeting with Becky. It seemed that she didn't want anyone else to find out either, so there probably wouldn't be a problem.

Suddenly, Kaneto's phone chimed. Seeing that it was one of Shido's collaborators in the Diet, he elected to ignore the call. Kaneto was not interested in taking any calls whatsoever.

He took a few steps, and his phone rang once again. Another of Shido's collaborators. Again, he slid the red circle and rejected the call.

But more people called, and eventually, he begun to receive dozens of text and voicemail messages. As he dismissed all his notifications, he saw something about "pictures" and a "woman."

Kaneto froze in place when he observed those words…

He answered the next call.

"Kaneto Masaji speaking."

 _"NOW you're answering our calls?!"_

"I'm busy. What is it?"

"We've been digging through all your leaked data!" shouted the man on the other end. _"Who is this woman in these pictures you took? The one with the short black hair?"_

Kaneto groaned. Now he would have to answer a million more questions…

* * *

Mother was busy packing her own suitcase in the other room. It was a ridiculously small suitcase, and also had several bits and pieces tearing away. I wouldn't have been surprised if it fell apart on our trip. Which would hopefully never come to pass…

I heard Mother still muttering to herself, quite audibly, as she packed.

"My clothes… what clothes should I bring… they could be contaminated… or the Phantom Thieves could have… the food! They could have poisoned the food. Hmm, it could be that it's some sort of injection… I should wear long sleeves… bug spray… how on Earth do I stop them?"

I was supposed to be packing my clothes up into a small, equally disheveled backpack, but I was instead pretending to search for them. When my mother came to demand that we leave, it wouldn't fool her, but for now I was doing my best to stall for time. I wasn't certain that doing so was necessary, but I really didn't know how the heart stealing worked. I also didn't want to leave in general anyways.

"Pumpkin!" my mother called out. "What are you doing?!"

"Looking for my clothes, Mother," I replied. She sighed exasperatedly and entered the room. It took her all of two minutes to locate them. They were buried beneath my dresser.

"Don't you think that's going to work on me, young lady!" she said sharply, before turning to return to her own luggage. "If you 'lose' those again, we're leaving anyway! I'm not buying new ones!"

I groaned quietly and began to pack them, anxiously rubbing my feet with my other hand as I did so.

 _Please hurry, Akira._

* * *

"You are aware that you were killed, correct?" Igor's deep voice pierced the cold air like a poison dart.

Akira nodded. "And I came back to life."

"Yes. And in doing so, you disturbed the balance of the game. The world has been overrun with confusion in response to the return of a supposed dead man. Your enemies have gone berserk trying to catch you. And this has consequently incited great chaos." Igor seemed quite irritated.

"Great chaos?" Akira asked. "Could you please be a little more specific?"

"Great chaos in the minds of the public," Igor clarified. "They are now questioning the nature of their very lives. If Phantom Thieves can return, then why not truly despicable villains? Murderers, rapists, terrorists? The dozens of men worldwide who were charged with the death penalty, perhaps, whose crimes would be able to continue if they simply returned. Do you see how this might cause a great upset?"

"Maybe," Akira admitted, "But what does that have to do with me? My team and I did what we could! And plus, how does anyone know that such people are coming back to life? For all we know, this was just a one time thing that some god or magic pixie or some shit set up specifically for us!"

"Indeed, that may be the case, and you do deserve congratulations for those efforts."

"Then why is it a problem?!" Akira yelled, raising his voice to a shout. "We didn't deserve to die in the first place! In fact, no one deserves to die like that! By murder!" He was getting a little riled up. "And even if criminals like that did come back to life, the Phantom Thieves would be here to change their hearts!"

"The Phantom Thieves are not all-powerful, INMATE!" Caroline shrieked. "Do watch your tongue!"

"Right," Justine noted. "You are not an omnipotent being capable of cleansing the world of all criminals. You would do best to remember this."

"I-I-" Akira stammered, "That's not what I meant…"

Igor laughed. "Ahahahahaha… you are truly an entertaining prisoner." He was not fazed by Akira's outburst. "You could certainly try targeting any such criminals… but it would be useless in the end."

"Useless?!" Akira yelled in disbelief. He was absolutely stunned that Igor would say such a thing. "What do you mean, useless?"

"Ha, perhaps I have said too much," Igor chuckled. "For the time being, it is irrelevant. You may forget it. There is one other matter of importance that Caroline and Justine would like to discuss with you. Girls?"

"Yes," Justine said, "we have noticed a small oddity in the Persona Compendium…"

"Oddity is a bit generous!" Caroline shouted. "What did you do, inmate?! There's an entire new page here!" She held up the mysterious record of Personas to his face, and pointed to an unfamiliar section of the list. They were all blank entries labeled "Art…"

Personas of the Art Arcana, waiting to be fused.

"I didn't do anything," Akira told them. "I just forged a new bond like you all told me to."

"This is not a normal bond!" screamed Caroline. "These Personas weren't here before!"

"They were indeed not," Justine agreed. "There are new fusion recipes in our books as well. And the Art is not normally known as an Arcana. It does not belong in this deck. What trickery have you employed here?"

"It seems connected to his challenge of death," Igor chimed in. "By pulling off such a stunt and stirring the world's spirits, he must have awakened someone new to join him as one of his contractors."

"But master." Justine was baffled and confused. "This has not happened before. The Art Arcana was not known to us, and the one who has lended him this power was not part of the game. What are we to do?"

"It is indeed unusual, but of no major consequence," Igor answered, "you may allow him to fuse these 'Art' Personas. I see no harm coming from it."

"But…" Caroline seemed a little reluctant, but she ultimately sighed irritably and said, "Very well! Inmate, our master has kindly granted permission to take advantage of this strange new power. Show him your appreciation!"

Akira bowed to Igor slightly. "Thanks. Caroline, Justine, I'd like to fuse…"

* * *

Joker emerged a few moments later, armed with several new masks. "Sorry about that," he told his team. He had been inside for what felt like perhaps an hour or so, fusing his Personas. But it appeared that in Mementos, a few minutes had passed at most.

"Joker…" Sae wondered, "what was that? What were you doing?"

"I was…" he thought it over a moment. Would it really be that difficult to explain what happened? Would they really not understand it as he had thought?

"I was in the Velvet Room."

"The Velvet Room?" Fox wondered, "it sounds rather aesthetically intriguing. What is it exactly?"

"A long-nosed man helps me make my Personas better," Joker explained, "assisted by two little girls."

"Little girls?" Queen shook her head in confusion. "This sounds very odd. Joker, we have to hurry and change Ohya Shiori's heart. You'll have to explain this to us more later."

Morgana hesitated for a moment, before scowling at Akira, and waving him towards the platform. "Yeah," Mona reminded him. "Come on, let's get down there!" He transformed into the Mona-mobile. Queen rushed to the driver's seat and everyone else followed.

"So your cat can in fact turn into a bus," Ace noted, laughing. "To think I would have been crazy enough to think of believing it. From a ranting teenage boy on drugs, of all people, and to think it would be true…"

Joker was a little amused, remembering that moment when he had pointed out the absurdity of the situation to the prosecutor, back then before she had joined in with them. He smiled slyly—but quickly stopped, remembering the circumstances under which that taken place.

In a brief moment of vulnerability, Akira's confidence slipped. He rubbed his forehead. There was sweat.

He had almost been expecting blood.

What if he was still dying, and this was all some sort of desperate hallucination? He hoped that that was not the case… but he couldn't be sure. After all those dreams, could he be certain that reality was really… real?

"Joker!" Queen let go of Mona's wheel and put a careful, concerned arm on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Dude," Skull complained, "you're really out of it! Come on, we gotta roll!"

"Don't worry…" Joker groaned.

Was he dead? Alive? Going to die? He decided it didn't matter. All that mattered now was that the Phantom Thieves change Ohya Shiori's heart. For the Art.

"I'm alright. Just got a bit of a headache. Queen, start driving!"

Queen pushed her metal boot into Mona's pedal, and they sped off into Mementos.

* * *

Ohya Ichiko was in Crossroads again, drinking. Lala Escargot was busy tending the bar. The TV was blaring some bogus cover-up for Shido's confession. All was as it was, to be expected…

Ichiko hoped she had made the right decision, giving Pumpkin her blessing to have the Phantom Thieves change Shiori's heart. Not because she doubted the Phantom Thieves, but because she was, just a little, worried for her niece's safety.

She knew that her sister was almost certainly in need of a change. But sometimes, Ichiko wondered if perhaps Shiori was right. Maybe only a little bit. After all, there was some credence, however small, to the possibility that what had happened to them might indeed be her fault.

… Nonsense. Ichiko knew Akira would almost certainly discredit the notion, if he heard the story. She hadn't told him, because it wasn't her story to tell. But still, he would be right. She had been trying to help. It hadn't been her fault. Even Pumpkin agreed. There was no way Ichiko could have anticipated such a terrible thing.

Her phone buzzed…

 _I gave Mother her calling card._

Ichiko smiled hopefully.

* * *

 _growwwwwwlll_

"Why did I just hear a growl?" Mona wondered.

"Oh, pardon me," Noir said apologetically, "my stomach growled…"

"Did everyone eat enough before going on this mission?" Queen asked, concerned.

Ace nodded in agreement. "I hope you're all properly fed."

"We all know that's never the case with Inari," Oracle snorted derisively.

"Bean sprouts are _perfectly —"_ Fox began, preparing to retort—but as if on cue, his tummy rumbled. "Hm… ! My stomach is growling as well. I must have forgotten to eat last night, given all the commotion. I don't often forget food unless I am particularly invested in painting…"

"You focus so much you forget to eat?" Panther marveled. "That's amazing! I couldn't do a single stroke without food."

"You paint too, Panther?" Joker asked. "I never knew that."

"Well, sometimes, but… I'm no good at it." Panther sighed. "But I do try at least."

Fox's stomach growled once more.

"There it is again," Fox observed, sounding somewhat worried. "It doesn't exactly feel like hunger, however. Is this carsickness? Fascinating…"

"Are you alright?" Queen asked. "Does anyone have something he can drink?"

"I have chocolate soda!" Skull offered. "It's a new flavor! I haven't tried it yet, but it's supposed to be really good!"

"Chocolate soda? I've never had it," Fox said with an odd air of curiosity. "It sounds like a serviceable method of quenching my thirst."

"Agh!" Panther sounded as if she might puke. "It sounds disgusting!"

"Indeed? Now I'm even more intrigued. I've never indulged in something so truly revolting." Fox gratefully took the chocolate soda and began drinking it ravenously. "My, what a peculiar sensation…"

"That reminds me," Oracle remembered, "if you eat chocolate and gum at the same time, they both disappear!"

"Really?" Noir asked, excitedly. "I'll be sure to try that!"

"I have some gum in my pocket," Skull said informatively.

"What if we have Fox try the gum with the chocolate soda and see if it works?" Joker proposed.

"That wouldn't work!" Oracle declared. "It only works with actual chocolate, not chocolate-flavored things!"

"So what," Skull pointed out. "We could try it anyway!"

"That sounds terribly unhealthy," Queen mused, "but I do suppose it will help Fox attain more sustenance…"

"I am not opposed to that line of thinking," Fox said, still drinking the chocolate soda. "This curious beverage could certainly use some more energy."

"Okay," Skull agreed, and he passed the gum to Fox.

"I've never chewed gum, myself," Ace commented. "It was against the rules in the SIU offices."

"Try some!" Skull suggested, passing a stick up to her.

Ace took it and popped it into her mouth. "Interesting," she noted, chewing it rather slowly. "So this is gum… hmm… the flavor and the gum itself seem to be two separate things. I'm not sure I've tasted anything quite like it before."

After chewing a moment longer, Ace swallowed the gum. At seeing this, everyone in the Mona bus laughed, with the exception of Makoto, Akira, and Yusuke. Makoto looked mortified. Akira was trying really hard to not laugh. Yusuke simply wasn't paying any attention, being rather occupied with his drinking… for some reason.

"What happened in there?" Mona asked, sounding confused. "Why are you all laughing?"

"Ace-Ace swallowed her gum!" Oracle was trapped in an intense giggling fit. "Ace! You don't swallow gum!"

"What?" Ace was a little embarrassed. "What do you do with gum, then?"

"You chew it awhile," Joker told her, "and then you spit it out!"

"And… then what do you do?"

"You throw it away!"

"But… what happens if you swallow it?"

"Nothing really," Noir informed her. "It just gets stuck in your insides for a few days and doesn't provide any nutritional value."

"Oh…" Ace looked slightly embarrassed. "My mistake."

Fox, meanwhile, gurgled down the chocolate soda energetically.

"Fox," Panther wondered, "did the gum and chocolate soda disappear?"

Fox seemed as though he was hyperventilating. He leaned forward, bouncing over-excitedly.

"Uh oh," Oracle warned, "Inari's experiencing a sugar high!"

"No, none of it disappeared…" Fox started, "but it was quite a flavor… I am in _the ZONE_ now! Give me more stimulation!"

"I-it's nice to hear that you're excited…" Panther said nervously, "but you're leaning too far forward…"

"Is this bad?" Queen seemed quite concerned.

"I wouldn't say so," Joker said reassuringly. "It's a new experience for Fox. It should wear off in a few minutes, and by then, I'm sure he'll just have some weird stuff to say about it."

"I can't quite see what's going on there," Mona informed them, "but you should get ready! Our target is somewhere in this area!"

"All right!" Oracle shouted enthusiastically. "Lemme speed this up a little. Starting the search!" Prometheus flew high above their heads and began scanning the floor. Within moments, a complete map of the current area had materialized in Oracle's hands. She handed it to Joker.

"Great job, Oracle!" Joker took the map and began directing Queen on the path to Ohya Shiori's Shadow. In the back meanwhile, Fox collapsed, slowly recovering from his sugar high.

* * *

Ohya Shiori was panicking. Her daughter had to have something to do with this, she had to, she just _had_ to… but why would she? Why would Pumpkin wish something so terrible as a change of heart upon her? A warping of mind… a theft of her will…

Shiori ran to Pumpkin's room. Her daughter was trying to overfill her bags with linens… bedsheets and towels and dozens of other things they were both well-aware they didn't need.

"Pumpkin!"

Her little Pumpkin looked up, seeming unduly shocked. There was nothing wrong with what was going on. There was no reason to be scared. She'd be safe. Mother would keep her from getting hurt, no matter what the cost.

"Mother," Pumpkin told Shiori, "I… I can't find… I don't know where…"

"You know perfectly well where everything is," Shiori insisted firmly. "Get it together! NOW!"

Her baby began slowly collecting clothes from beneath the bed, moving at a snail's pace. Shiori was not amused.

"What are you trying to do?!" she demanded. "Get on with it!"

Pumpkin began moving a little faster, but only so much.

Soon enough, they would leave and everything would be fine. Pumpkin would be okay. Shiori didn't understand why her daughter was resisting, or why she had sent the Phantom Thieves after her, but everything would be alright in the end.

They would be far away from Tokyo, from Ichiko, from any danger of her husband…

* * *

 _"I can do with my daughter what I like!"_ shouted Ohya Shiori's Shadow. "I won't let my imbecile sister exercise her influence on Pumpkin!"

"I know your sister quite well," Joker called out at Shiori. "She's a terrific journalist! Even in the face of adversity, she's trying to make something of her life. Your daughter idolizes her for that, not because of how much she drinks! Stop getting hung up on that!"

"You can't just run away from your life!" Panther chimed in. "Just because you don't feel safe in Tokyo doesn't mean you'll feel safer running away somewhere else!"

"Yeah," Skull agreed. "That doesn't make any fuckin' sense at all!"

"It's simply not reasonable," Fox added. "You don't know what misfortune might befall you and your daughter if you go through with this. Think of how your sister would feel if something happened!"

"You can't just throw away your life like this!" Noir called out. "Please reconsider!"

"Listen to your daughter!" Ace shouted. "She loves you. She wouldn't have sent us here if she didn't. I know because… because…" Ace cried a little, smiling and sneaking a small glance at Queen. "Someone did the same for me!"

"Yes!" Queen agreed. "I know she cares about you. We're here to help you realize—"

 _"I DON'T CARE!"_ Shadow Shiori shrieked. "You think I care what my daughter thinks? Or about my sister's obsession with alcohol? I don't give a shit what Ichiko does! I only have to keep my daughter safe because of what my idiot sister did to provoke my rotten husband!"

"Her husband… Newspaper Girl's father…" Panther looked shocked. "Joker, didn't you tell us he'd been hurting them?!"

"I don't know for sure what this is all about," Joker replied, "but I think it was more than hurting." He stepped forward and withdrew his pistol.

"Ohya Shiori! We can't allow you to do this. I only have so many friends in this place. I'm not about to let you take one of them away! We're going to steal away your heart, and you will let Newspaper Girl stay here!"

"DON'T THREATEN ME!" Shiori yelled, as she began transforming. **_"I'LL OBLITERATE YOU ALL!"_**

"Let's go, everyone!" shouted Oracle.

* * *

I was panicking more and more as I went, slowly and nervously packing things as my mother watched me, ensuring that I was pulling no tricks. I didn't want to go. I really, _really_ didn't want to go. My mother had barely passed her driver's test, and she hadn't made use of it in years. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if her license were expired. Odds were good that she might lose her temper and get us into an accident.

One more reason for Akira to change her heart.

"Hurry up!" she shouted. I moved a little bit faster, but she still wasn't satisfied. "Forget it!" Mother groaned in exasperation. "I'll pack for you myself!" She shoved me aside and began hastily shoving my belongings into my bag.

"I forgot something!" I shouted in desperation. "Please—"

She ignored me and slammed the door to my room in my face.

* * *

 _"PSIODYNE!"_ screamed Noir, sending Asarte forth to attack Shiori's Shadow. But Shiori dodged effortlessly, and launched a Nuclear counter-attack—which Noir herself avoided.

"Noir!" Joker called out urgently, "you're looking tired! Switch with Panther!"

Noir jumped back, panting from the exertion, as Panther took her place. The fight hadn't been even 10 minutes, but their attacks just weren't connecting.

"Let's do this, Hecate!" Panther called out, Hecate's fire attacks scoring some scant damage. Meanwhile, Futaba sent Prometheus high above Noir, beaming energy down to her while she waited in backup behind the attacking party.

 _"RAVAGE THEM, ARSENE!"_ Joker shouted, pulling forth his original Persona. Laughing, Arsene unleashed a curse blast, which Shiori blocked. And then she suddenly reverted to her initial form…

"What?!" Skull couldn't believe what they were seeing. "The fight only just started! Why the hell's she back to normal? Did we win?"

"I don't think so," Queen warned them, standing still and cautious. "We barely did any damage. Don't let your guard down."

Shiori pulled out a gun and nervously stared at it…

"She can use a gun too?!" Oracle shouted in disbelief.

"Is… is that not normal?" Ace asked, quite worried.

"It… it seems old." Panther observed. "I don't think she's going to attack us with it…"

"An old gun is still a dangerous gun," Ace warned the others. "Not only to us, but to her as well, if Shiori possesses this in reality. Be cautious, and pay attention."

The Phantom Thieves kept their distance as they observed the Shadow's odd behavior.

* * *

"Mother?" I asked nervously, taking a few careful steps back. "Why… why do you have Father's gun?"

She eyed it with the deepest sadness and contempt in her eyes.

"I…" she coughed. "It… it's…"

I couldn't believe that she had it. I thought it had been thrown out. Perhaps given away. Tossed into a river. But it was right there. The weapon that had almost…

Mother clicked open the magazine. The gun was empty, unloaded of all ammunition whatsoever. As it almost certainly had been, since… since Father had left.

"It's the same," Mother coughed, quite relieved. "The same… Those Phantom Thieves didn't rig it. Good."

Then she concealed it in her dress pocket.

"You can't take that with us!" I yelled at her. "If we're accosted by the police at any point, and they find that—"

She raised a dismissive, quiet hand. "Get to the car, Pumpkin."

"But…"

"Get to the car!" she repeated, raising her voice at me. "I-I need a moment…"

I reluctantly obeyed, leaving the apartment and getting into the elevator which would lead to the garage.

Why did Mother have the gun? It embodied dozens of negative memories of my father… memories I understood we both wanted to forget. He shouldn't have had that gun. His brother shouldn't have had it either. It should have been gone… disappeared…

Besides, we'd be in trouble if it was found. We were both well aware that civilian possession of firearms wasn't allowed in Japan. I didn't know the whole law, so I wasn't certain if whether or not the gun was loaded made any difference. But either way, it was dangerous.

I didn't understand her motives. She said she wanted to keep me safe, but nearly everything she did seemed to pose greater dangers than the ones which she claimed to be protecting me from. What was wrong with her?

* * *

"What the hell's she doing?!" shouted Skull. "Ain't she gonna attack us or something?"

"I don't think so," Mona said, carefully watching. "Something seems to have happened to her cognition."

"Can we leave then? Did we change her heart?!" Skull sounded quite impatient.

"No." Joker was quietly analyzing the scene. "I don't think it worked. She hasn't dropped a Treasure."

"I was thinking maybe she might not got a Treasure! Like how Oracle didn't have one!"

"Well," Queen pointed out, "Oracle's case was unique. She had a Treasure, it's just that the Treasure was herself, or well, her Shadow, and when it became her Persona she effectively took her own Treasure from her Palace."

"Wait a minute!" Ace yelled. "Shiori's Shadow is trying to do something!"

"She's walking away," Noir realized, "is she… is it like…"

"I'm leaving!" the Shadow shouted at the Phantom Thieves. "I'm taking my Pumpkin with me and you thieves aren't going to stop me!"

"… what Father did?" Noir finished, sounding rather confused.

Ohya Shiori's Shadow turned her back to them, and all of a sudden, a red and blue light opened up behind her. It was quite the display, and briefly blinded the Phantom Thieves. Ohya Shiori's Shadow entered the light and disappeared…

"That is an extremely bright light!" Fox noted, shielding his eyes.

"What the hell happened?!" Skull cried indignantly. "Shouldn't we have kept fighting her?"

"I-I-I…" Oracle gasped, stunned. "What's going on? I don't sense her anymore!"

* * *

Mother entered the car and started the engine.

I sat, looking distraught and defeated. After all I had done, we were still leaving. Had the change of heart failed? Akira had seemed so confident. What if something had happened to him? He wasn't responding to my texts.

I wasn't sure why my mother hadn't taken my phone away after all this… I supposed it wouldn't matter anyway. Wherever we were going, there probably wasn't any phone service.

Where we were going…

"Mother," I asked, "where exactly are we going?"

Mother ignored me, looking straight forward as she began driving…

"Mother!" I raised my voice. "Do… do you miss Father?"

She stopped the car with a thin, audible _screech._ Her body tensed up, and she stared forward out the windshield.

"What are you… talking about?" she said slowly, her voice like acid. "I hate your father. I will always hate him forever. He was a menace."

"He… what Father did was wrong," I told her, "but that doesn't excuse—"

"He almost got us _killed!"_ Mother cried.

"And _you're being JUST LIKE HIM,_ Mother!" I shouted. "You're placing us both in danger all because of some ridiculous ideal you've gotten yourself obsessed with!"

She snarled. "How dare you," she spat furiously, "compare me to someone like _him…"_

"You need to stop resenting Auntie Ichiko for what she did!" I screamed. "She was trying to help us! She cared! Which is a _HELL OF A LOT_ more than I can say about _**you!"**_

As I finally spat the truth, Mother's breath caught as she went silent. I felt as if I could hear her heart beating, and it didn't sound like it was changing. The tension between us was extremely palpable.

I had spoken of that which was never to be spoken of between us. The true reason why Mother kept me away from Auntie Ichiko. Not because of her drinking, as I had told Akira. That was what my mother claimed, so it was technically true, in a way. But the truth was…

Auntie Ichiko had tried to help us.

And my mother had forever hated her for it.

"You're right… I don't care…" she took a few deep breaths and raised her voice again. "I _don't care_ what you say!" Mother placed her foot on the gas and continued driving. "I am sick and tired of being pushed around!"

It seemed there was no convincing her. She had her mind set on this. And it also seemed the Phantom Thieves hadn't gotten to her yet… I was beginning to lose confidence. I wanted to be hopeful, but everything seemed quite bleak at the moment.

* * *

 _"Hello! Kaneto-san, about that woman in the maid cost—"_

 _ **BEEP.**_

 _Message deleted._

Kaneto Masaji was in his bathrobe. He had just gotten out of the shower, and was deleting every single voice message from his collaborators one by one. He was sick of being told what to do by everyone else, being pushed around, yelled at, whatever.

He was sick of all of it. Alibaba's hacking, the wretched conspiracy he was now charged with leading, and those accursed Phantom Thieves… Why couldn't he handle it?! He was Kaneto Masaji! The great Shido Masayoshi's right-hand man, goddamn it! The Prime Minister's secretary! He was absolutely incensed by his continued rotten luck.

Kaneto continued to delete messages…

 _"Kaneto-san! Why are you ignoring our calls! Did you—"_

 _Message deleted._

 _"KANETO MASAJI! You will ANSWER YOUR PHONE WHEN I—"_

 _Message deleted._

 _"Kaneto! This is the SIU director. What the hell were you—"_

 _Message deleted._

 _"Good evening, Kaneto."_

At that voice, Kaneto dropped his phone in shock.

This was not a message he would want to delete…

 _"I hear you have had another embarrassing scandal come to the attention of your colleagues. Not that I care…"_

The man's deep voice irritated him as always. Who did this guy think he was? Some sort of god among men? What an arrogant little shit. Kaneto was better than him. He knew he was.

Sure, this man might have great power and influence in the government (although Kaneto wasn't sure what part of the government he worked for) and thrown his weight behind Shido. But he, the great Kaneto Masaji, the humble assistant to the glorious Shido Masayoshi, was almost certainly the better man. He was actually doing all the work. Didn't that make him better?!

The arrogant benefactor's voice message continued its playback…

 _"I wonder, have you made any progress? I do hope you have come to your senses and resolved all these trivial roadblocks. Please do call me back if you get the opportunity…"_

Kaneto was fed up with Shido's conceited benefactor, just sitting on his ass and making dumb phone calls. What if he actually tried to do something? Wasn't he going to be in trouble too, if all this got out? Kaneto decided he wasn't going to stand for this guy's laziness anymore. He was going to give this prick a piece of his mind.

So, he fumbled for his phone, and hit the callback button. The dial-tone rang for a moment, and then an automated error message rang from his phone's speaker.

 _"The number you have dialed is not in use. If you would like to speak to an operator…"_

Of course. Shido's benefactor couldn't be called back. It had been a joke, or some sort of obnoxious tease. He would be using some sort of mask to hide his real phone number, or many disposable phones. He was playing Kaneto for a fool, and it was not pleasing. Why did this man do such things? It really pissed Kaneto off.

He cleared his voicemail box and went to take a nap.

* * *

"How do we find her?" Noir wondered. "Did she just suddenly disappear from Mementos and go back to her real self? Maybe her distorted desires left on their own!"

"I doubt that," Joker said. "Considering all that Newspaper Girl said about her, it seems highly unlikely that she would change her own mind like Ace did. She sounded like a stubborn and paranoid woman."

"So do we go back," Panther asked, rubbing her head in confusion, "or do we stay here? Did we succeed or not? We can't just let her get away if her heart wasn't changed!"

"This… I've never seen this happen before…" Mona was baffled. But suddenly, his eyes widened in their usual comically huge way. "Wait a minute! I just had an idea! Check the Nav!"

Joker pulled out his phone and said, loud and clear, "Ohya Shiori!"

 _Candidate found._

"So we didn't change her heart," Ace said, sighing. "What happened, then?"

"Perhaps she moved to another area of Mementos," Fox suggested hopefully. "We may need to find her there."

"I… I don't get this…" Joker scratched his head in bewilderment. "What are we… what is this?"

 _No distortion yet acquired._

"No distortion… what could it…" Oracle came to look at Joker's phone. "Hang on! It says right here—"

"What?!" Skull shouted. "Did you figure out what's up?!"

"No, it… it says…"

Everyone crowded around to see what Oracle and Joker were gawking at.

There was a sort of map on the Metaverse Navigator. A complicated, ever-expanding map, growing and growing on the screen…

 _Estimating distortion potential…_

"Potential?!" Queen gasped. "Could it be that…"

"I know what's happening," Mona realized. "It's as I suspected…" Everyone gave him their attention.

"Joker. Skull. Panther. Do you all remember what I said to you after we defeated Nakanohara's Shadow? About his Treasure." They nodded.

"You said something like, it coulda grown?" Skull recalled, scratching his head.

"Yeah," Panther remembered, "that if we had left it alone…"

"That it could have become…" Joker suddenly saw the connection. "Are you telling me… that Ohya Shiori now has a Palace?!"

Mona's face was set in a grimace. "That's definitely what it seems like. But, judging by what the Metaverse Navigator is saying, it seems like it hasn't completely formed yet." Mona started running towards the bright glow before them.

"Then let's go stop it!" Skull shouted impatiently. "We can't take on another Palace now! Not when we've got Shido's dudes tryin' to track us down!"

"Indeed," Noir assented, "this growing Palace must be destroyed at once!"

"Wait," Mona warned them. "Before we go, you should be warned…"

He had an urgent look in his eyes. The team stared at him in anticipation.

"What's the problem?" Joker wondered.

"Because this cognitive world hasn't yet fully formed," Mona noted, "it doesn't have the backbone of a fully-fledged Palace. Which means that we may not be subject to the same rules as we are in here…"

"What d'you mean?" Skull inquired impatiently. "Like, will there be no gravity or something like that?!"

"No, there'll be gravity! … probably." Mona said nervously. "But we may not be able to fully use our powers. Our Personas might not work, or if they do, might be weakened. Cognition may not work in the same way. Our weapons could just be ordinary toys like in reality, or something even more useless."

"Are you serious?!" Skull yelled in disbelief.

"So," Queen summarized, "we may not be able to fight normally?"

"It's a possibility," Mona warned. "And furthermore, because it hasn't grown yet, that means Shiori's Shadow has less room to work with, but so do we. She may be able to box us in more easily. It's uncharted territory. There's no telling what could happen."

"Are you saying it's too dangerous?" Fox asked, concerned.

"No! Well, maybe, but, come on! I just wanted to let you know, but we have to go in anyway!" He concentrated a moment, and, with a quick jump, he was once more the Mona-mobile.

"So…" Panther seemed nervous. "We might not be able to use our Personas?"

"I don't know about this…" Skull was reluctant. "What if we die in there?"

"I… I don't want to…" Haru seemed rather fearful, which was unusual in the Metaverse. "die… again."

"Are you all gonna play chicken?!" Mona shouted indignantly at them. "Come on, we have to hurry! If we can track her down, we may be able to stop her Palace from forming! After her!"

But the team seemed rather hesitant.

"Damn!" shouted Skull, "this is really complicated!"

"I'm scared…" Queen admitted. "I don't know how we would go about our strategy."

"I don't like the look of this," Joker said nervously. "What if something happens to us in there?"

"What if we can't go in?!" Panther cried. "We've never had something like this happen before!"

"I don't sense anything beyond there… but… nothingness!" Oracle seemed pretty scared. "It seems like…"

"That gateway is rather ominous," Fox noted. "I don't feel good about this at all…"

"What are you all doing?!" Ace shouted at them. "Didn't your cat tell you to hurry up? I've not been a Phantom Thief long, but I never imagined the Phantom Thieves would stand around fretting pointlessly over unknown danger! Are we going or not?"

Everyone looked at Ace in surprise. And after a moment, the Phantom Thieves composed themselves, and Joker put on his trademark devilish smirk.

"You're right," Joker agreed, his voice taking on a steely determination. "We can't just let this happen! We have to save Newspaper Girl!" He ran to the Mona bus and opened the door. "Queen, get behind the wheel! We're going to change Ohya Shiori's heart, no matter what!"

As Queen followed Joker's command, she gave him a smirk of her own. "Better hop in or we'll do it without you, Leader."

Joker nodded and rushed to the other side, taking his usual seat next to Queen. All the other thieves got in, and the Mona-mobile sped forth into the mysterious portal.

* * *

 _ **Ahahahaha, aren't we clever, Mac and I?**_

 _ **Originally my plan was that Ohya Shiori would drive away, her cognition would change, and then she'd just move somewhere else in Mementos, to some sort of secret area. But Mac was barely buying that. So later on I suddenly had the idea to change it so that instead she starts growing a Palace, which Mac latched onto much more quickly. He had a bunch of great ideas for it, which I've been helping flesh out, so. Next chapter, we've got some crazy stuff happening! And then in the next chapter after that! And after! This will end soon ish though. I think. I've got a lot of ideas, but I know clearly where this is going.**_

 _ **Also, first time posting at midnight! Well, at least in my timezone. I've wanted to do this for awhile but haven't been able to before because of my enforced bedtime, but now I'm on my own! (for the time being) So I can do what I like! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and have a fantastic night/day!**_

 _ **This might have taken a little less time to come out than it did, but I went and wrote a one-shot about Haru called Tea with an Empress. If that interests you, please check it out. It's good. I thought it was good, anyway. I had fun writing it! And those who have read it seem to have had fun reading it as well.**_

 _ **Mac's got no notes today. So, happy Monday/Tuesday. Until next time!**_


	29. The Patient

_**Sorry this took so long! Explanation at the bottom for those who care to read about it. In the meantime, please enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

We hadn't been driving for long, but I already felt dozens of miles away. I still didn't know where my mother was taking me. She was driving quite recklessly, and it seemed the speed limit was the least of her concerns. I wasn't certain what she was planning to do with me, but, I _was_ certain that it wasn't a good plan.

I felt pretty bad about what I had said to Mother. I didn't really think she was being _that_ much like Father. Were that the case, I would be in even worse trouble. That is to say, assuming I weren't dead and buried in a ditch by now. I never wanted anything to do with him again, and his part in my life was the one story I wouldn't ever tell to anyone.

No. Not even to **you.** Don't even think of getting curious about it. Father was gone. Either far away minding his own business, or long dead. If he was still alive, he'd probably forgotten that I existed. I couldn't understand why Mother was so obsessed with him.

I stared out the window nervously, watching Tokyo grow farther and farther away from us. Damn, my mother was driving _really_ fast. I hoped we wouldn't get pulled over by a cop. That would be the very last thing I needed, especially after all the effort I had gone to trying to stop this.

Hopefully, that effort wouldn't be in vain. Hopefully, the change of heart was just taking a while. _Hopefully._

* * *

The light into which Ohya Shiori's Shadow had disappeared was even more blinding as they drove through it. Queen fought to maintain her grip on the wheel of the Mona bus in the face of the obscuration. Everyone else shielded their eyes.

"I can't see where we're going!" Queen yelled.

"I can," Mona called out, "but, it doesn't look like much is— _AH!"_

There was a loud **BANG** as Mona collided with an unseen obstacle. The Phantom Thieves all cried out in surprise as the bus started to roll around as if it were a ball inside a spinning cylinder.

"Why are we upside down— _AAAAACKKKKK!"_ Oracle screamed as the bus continued moving. "This reminds me, I always hated roller coasters!"

"I'm… very… dizzy! My stomach… agh…" Fox began coughing and choking. _"BLEH!"_

"FOX!" Panther shrieked, as she attempted to hastily clear herself of the pungent half-digested fluids which he had just regurgitated onto her. "Eww, gross! Now I've got chocolate-gun stuff all over me!"

"What the hell is going on?" Joker shouted in a panic. "Queen, can you do something?!"

"I've lost control of Mona!" Queen replied, equally freaked out.

"This is…" Ace started to say, but stopped, trying to hold something in.

"Ohhh man I'm glad I didn't eat a big breakfast…" Skull gagged.

"Wait!" Noir yelled, "I think I saw something! It was— _AHHH!"_

The Mona bus began shaking even more violently than before. And then… it stopped.

"I think… we… made it!" Mona said, sounding out of breath. He rolled himself upright, and Oracle moaned, still suffering from intense motion sickness after all that had just happened.

"Thank goodness." Ace seemed relieved. Still suffering from the previous blinding effects of the light, everyone started rubbing their eyes.

"Holy crap!" Skull exclaimed. "Why the hell was that so rough?!"

"I don't think we were meant to go that way. Probably the Metaverse equivalent of an unpaved road." Joker wasn't too certain of this, but that was the best possible explanation he could think of.

"Uh, Joker!" Mona said, sheepishly, "that's because it _is_ an unpaved road."

"Wait, what?" Joker blinked, as everything outside Mona's windows came into focus.

His cat was correct. They had in fact wound up on a dirt road. "Why are we here?!"

"I don't know," Oracle gasped, looking out the window. "I guess this is just where her Palace is… AGH!"

Joker heard a crack of thunder outside as Oracle grabbed her face and began gripping her mask. Mona let out a yowl of surprise, and there was a _poof_ as he changed out of car form, leaving the thieves in a confused pile.

"Oracle!" shouted Queen, "are you okay?!"

Mona, meanwhile, was looking up at the sky for some reason. "Whoa… what is that… it looks like a… a… _Aaaaaaaaggggaaa_ _ **HHHH!"**_

There was another crack of thunder from above, and the Phantom Thieves were bathed by an unseen source of purple light.

"Mona-chan!" Noir was panicking in response to Mona's sudden breakdown. "Are you alright?! Please, say somethin— _Rnngh!"_

Similarly to Oracle, Noir's hands jumped upwards to her mask, which she gripped urgently, as if trying to keep it from running away.

"Noir!" Panther's voice was urgent and concerned. "How is this… _oww!"_

"I don't… understand…" Queen cried out, desperately trying to hold onto her mask. "What is this...

"What the hell's happenin' to us?!" Skull screamed, freaking out as well.

Joker wasn't sure, himself. His head was pounding. It felt like Arsene and his other Personas were… shrinking?! Mona let out a long, low yowl of surprise, but he barely paid it any attention.

Everyone suddenly stopped and let out exhausted breaths, all of them now off their feet, spread across the ground. Morgana stuck his head up at Joker and meowed.

And upon hearing himself meow, looked instantly stunned. He meowed… and hissed… and meowed and hissed nonstop, trying and trying to say something. But nothing came… He was simply an ordinary cat now. Somehow. _What happened to my cat…_ Akira was too fatigued to consider the possibilities in depth, his head throbbing as if he'd just spent all his SP.

Wait, where'd he get that from? He wasn't even sure what SP was.

"Mona can't talk now?" Ann exclaimed in disbelief. "What kind of Palace is this?!"

"I think… I… what the… ?!"

Joker was not Joker, Joker was… Akira. And Akira was not Joker.

His Phantom Thief outfit wasn't there anymore.

"We're not in our Phantom Thief outfits!" Akira carefully stood up, trying his best not to lose his balance.

"What?!" Ryuji staggered to his feet, his leg wobbling under him for a second, before he got his bearings. He was missing his Skull outfit as well. "The fuck is this shit?"

* * *

The car's speed began to slow, and I looked about, wondering why. We were already there? I was under the impression that our destination was very far away. If there even _was_ a destination. Perhaps Mother was just tired?

No, that couldn't be. We looked like we were in the middle of nowhere. There were many suburban looking houses and buildings scattered about, but they looked unlived in. They were overrun by overgrown shrubs, or obscured by rather tall trees. Sometimes both. What were we doing in a place like this?

Before long, the overgrown homes disappeared, to be replaced by an empty, deserted road, surrounded by green on either side. The road turned to a long driveway. I caught a glimpse of a lone sign pointing somewhere, but I didn't quite see what it said.

The car stopped. Seeing the sign on the archway we had just passed through, my jaw dropped.

"This is… this is… a…"

My mother opened the door. I stepped out and looked up at the place she had chosen. Someplace like this? It looked even older, and almost certainly less accommodating, than any of the houses we had passed.

"This is our new home, Pumpkin."

* * *

"I can only suppose that… aaagh…" Makoto groaned as she replied to Ryuji's earlier question. "As this place isn't quite a Palace, we're not able to access our usual powers just yet. That would explain why Mona's been affected as well." She tried to sit up, but she seemed to be in a good bit of pain, and quickly collapsed again. "Ooh… my head hurts."

Akira stood himself up and turned, offering a hand to his Queen. "Do you want some help, sweetheart?"

She nodded eagerly. "Please." Makoto accepted Akira's open hand, and he helped her stand up as she rubbed her temples, wincing. She then gave him a brief, appreciative peck on the lips before returning to the matter at hand. "Where would we find the actual Palace?"

Everyone looked around the road where they had ended up. It was a long, lifeless looking road, surrounded by shrubbery which impeded their vision in most directions. Behind them were several long, erratic tire tracks, showing evidence of their entrance with Mona. The sky was blue, and there were no Shadows, safe rooms, or any sort of indication that they were truly in a Palace.

"Are we sure that we're really in the Palace at all?" Haru wondered. "This doesn't seem quite right. It looks like…"

"Yes," Yusuke affirmed as he surveyed the area through his signature finger frame. "What an interesting area, however… It looks like this road has not been used in many years."

"Let's see what the Metanav says." Akira took out his phone and opened the Metaverse Navigator.

 _Ohya Shiori,_ the screen read. Though a rough map of the potential Palace, which was constantly updating, still presented itself, the app still informed him that there was "no distortion yet acquired."

"It still doesn't know for certain?" Sae seemed greatly worried by this.

"I don't get this," Ryuji said, baffled, "Where the heck are we? It don't look anything like the Metaverse."

"Over there!" Ann pointed further down the road. "I think I see a sign for something!"

Akira looked in the direction in which she was pointing. "A sign, huh?" It was a great distance away, but there was no mistaking that it was, indeed, a road sign.

"I can't quite make out what it says," Yusuke noted, as he observed it curiously.

"I can't see it either," Futaba said sadly, wiping her glasses, "It just looks like a load of blob to me from that distance!"

"It seems to be giving directions to a particular area," Sae observed, peering at the sign. "It says… Yokoyama Road?"

"Whoa!" Futaba was impressed. "You have really good eyesight!" She adjusted her glasses slightly, staring at the sign with some focused concentration. "Nope. Still looks like a blob."

"I suppose we should follow it," Yusuke decided.

"Well, I don't see any other leads on where to go," Akira seemed a little indecisive on the matter.

"But," Sae said, seeming quite worried, "we can't be sure. What if it leads us in the opposite direction? How would we know for certain that we were on track?"

"I don't think we have any other option," Makoto pointed out. "We have to try it."

Morgana meowed and jumped in front of them. He waves his paws in the dirt, pointing in the direction of the sign.

"Mona-chan seems to agree," Haru said eagerly. "We have to do this!"

"Wait a minute." Ann pulled out a napkin from her pocket. "I need to get all this gross gunk off of me." Her transformation back from Panther had not precluded the existence of Yusuke's barf.

"Ah. That was a little out of control," Sae commented, turning to Yusuke. "I do hope you're not planning on doing anything like that again?"

"My apologies," Yusuke said in his most sincere voice. "Now that I've fully recovered, I can say that it was certainly quite the experience. However, I don't think I'd wish to replicate it."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The consensus among them seemed to be that nothing good had come of Fox becoming so wound up.

"Thank goodness," Futaba said vehemently. "Inari's bad enough when it's all about sake and rice, we don't need the God of Barf to visit us."

"What are you talking about?" Yusuke wondered aloud, "I do not make a habit of consuming sake or rice."

Futaba was about to reply, but Akira interrupted. "Er, we should probably get back on track and try to see if we can find Ohya Shiori's Shadow… uh…"

And so the Phantom Thieves began walking to Yokoyama Road.

* * *

The door had been locked. But, the lock had broken, so gaining access to the building had proved easy. It looked dead inside, though definitely not as structurally unsound as I had imagined. In fact, apart from the fact that it was abandoned, and almost certainly had no serviceable utilities, it appeared to be somewhat ordinary.

That didn't mean I wanted to stay here, though. It looked pretty creepy and uncomfortable.

Mother began walking up the spiral staircase at the end of the formerly elegant entrance hall. I nervously followed as she made her way to the top floor, where she entered a small room. Looking inside, I observed a small bedroom outfitted with a tiny desk, window and a drawer.

There were lots of old official looking papers scattered about. It looked like whoever had lived in this room might have been the one in charge.

Mother began rifling through the papers, searching for something, but, noticing that I had been following her, suddenly started yelling. _**"Pumpkin!**_ What are you doing?! You're supposed to be in your room!"

"B-but…" Never mind the opposition I held to being confined to my room in the first place. I could complain about that later, when I had more energy to do so. I… "I don't know where my room is!" I protested. "How do you expect me to go there if you didn't even show me?"

Mother grimaced at me, then exited the office and lifted me up by my waist. I yelled at her indignantly as I was forcefully hefted downstairs and thrown unceremoniously into a small, dusty dormitory. As I picked myself up off the floor, the door shut, and there was a resounding _click_ as my mother locked it behind her.

I sighed. Well, I _did_ ask her to show me my room. Wish granted. Now what?

The room's interior was not especially well-furnished, and the bed, which was the only real object of note, looked extremely uncomfortable. I wouldn't have been surprised if I felt better sleeping on the floor.

Why was I locked in here? What was Mother's plan exactly? What significance did this place hold to her? I decided none of that quite mattered yet. I had another priority.

I turned to the window, which, I noticed, was bolted shut. I tried to open it, but there was no way to force it out.

There was only one way out of this room. Thankfully, the glass was quite old, so this wouldn't be too hard, but—

Yeah. I was going to have to stand back, lest I risk terribly injuring myself. Hmm. There was nothing in here but the bed. How was I going to pull this off?

 _What would Akira do?_ I wondered. And after a mere moment of pondering it, I had the answer. I crouched down at the foot of the bed and made my best effort to lift it. It didn't budge.

Might be worth noting that I'm a very small girl. I'm also not that great an athlete, nor am I very experienced at lifting things, but I tried my best. It took me a good few minutes, and in that time, I thought about how tall and scrawny Akira actually was.

Sure, he might be stronger than he looked, but even so, this would surely be a terribly inefficient method of escape. An actual Phantom Thief might certainly have a better idea for how to circumvent a locked door. Probably a simple solution, like lockpicks.

I was terrible at picking locks. When I was a child, I had once watched a television show about a master detective who was good at picking locks. For a time, I'd wanted to be like that detective. That is, until I met Auntie Ichiko.

Perhaps pursuing the detective's path would have proven more useful to me in this moment. Then again, if I had done so, I'd probably not be in a situation such as this one to begin with.

I grunted from all the force I was exerting. Why wouldn't this stupid… bed… _move?!_

* * *

Akira saw no sign of distortion whatsoever on the way to wherever they were going, and it seemed neither did the rest of them. As they made it further and further down the seemingly endless road, their confidence waned.

"Are we _really_ sure this is the right path?" Ann sounded tired and woozy. "I don't understand this at all. It just doesn't feel like a Palace."

"I know right?!" Ryuji agreed. "Look at this damn place! It can't be a Palace, it looks normal!"

"I too find it difficult to believe that this place is the Palace we are looking for," Yusuke added, also quite drained. "It is much too realistic. Perhaps we were somehow sent back to the real world."

"To be honest," Akira groaned, his previous enthusiasm having worn away. "I'm not sure myself. Maybe we should turn back and rethink our strategy."

"But won't that be quite a bit of trouble if it turns out we were right?" Haru noted.

"Yes," Sae agreed. "I don't think we have any other options."

"But I'm getting tired of walking…" Futaba sighed.

Morgana began meowing and waving with his paws. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Morgana?!" Makoto asked, concerned. "What's wrong? Are we not going the right way?"

Morgana shook his head. At this, everyone gave him their attention.

"Whoa, what?!" Ryuji's fatigue seemed to disappear. "So, we _aren't_ going the right way then?"

Morgana meowed more loudly and shook his head even more. He then waved his paw in the direction they had been going.

"What d'you mean?!" Ryuji yelled, annoyed. "Come on, you stupid cat, tell us!"

Morgana hissed at him and turned his nose away.

"Come on, Ryuji!" Akira chastised, "now you've upset him!"

"Sorry…" Ryuji said apologetically, "it's just really gettin' on my nerves that he can't talk."

"Mona-chan," Haru asked, getting in front of Ryuji, "did we get lost?"

Morgana looked at Haru and shook his head.

"Hey," Ann wondered, "isn't this a dirt road? Why can't Morgana just write words on the ground?"

"Hey, yeah, we didn't think of that!" Akira realized. "Let's try it!"

Morgana nodded and extended his paw into the road, attempting to scratch words, but failed to make an impact.

"No good," Sae lamented, feeling the ground beneath them. "The dirt here is too dry."

"That's a shame," Yusuke commented sadly, "I would have liked to draw something."

"We wouldn't have time for that!"

There was a small rumbling.

"… an earthquake?" Sae seemed a little nervous.

"I think this is it," Makoto told them. "Look at the sky."

The sky had been clear moments ago, but it was now raining. The sound of thunder cracked the clean, brittle air.

"Thunderstorms happen all the time—" Ann started, but she stopped short upon witnessing the second bolt of lightning, which was purple.

"Purple lightning?" Akira was quite curious. "You don't see that every day."

Rain and wind began splattering down, as the sky turned to deep shades of pink and purple, as if someone were pouring ink into the clouds.

"It's a cognitive quake," Morgana said, and everyone jumped in surprise. They turned back to look at him. He hadn't reverted to his Metaverse appearance, but he was now talking.

"Mona-chan!" shouted Haru, delighted. "Can you tell us what's going on here?"

Morgana nodded. "This place is adapting to Shiori's cognition. It's like how in a safe room, the Palace fades in and out, because the ruler's control is weak there. Except this is much more explosive in nature. She's taking control of this world."

"Okay," Ann rubbed her forehead as she tried to make sense of it. "And you can only talk to us when it shifts over?"

"Seems so," Morgana said regretfully.

"But why is that?" Akira asked.

"I don't know." Morgana seemed just as confused as the rest of them on that front. "In a safe room, the cognitive shifts just aren't as disruptive… I think? I can't be sure."

"Hey, look over there!" Futaba yelled, pointing upwards to their right.

Everyone tilted their heads in the direction she had indicated. Way further down in the direction they had been walking, the clouds were all swirling together, to form the center of the cognitive storm.

"I think that's where we'll find Ohya Shiori's Palace." Akira took out his phone.

 _Distortion acquired: Asylum._

 _Distortion potential unknown…_

"An asylum?!" Makoto said, her face twisted in shock. "What makes her think of her Palace as an asylum?"

"She must think that her daughter is crazy for putting herself in danger," Sae supposed, "and that she needs to be kept safe at all costs… even if it means locking her up in an asylum."

Akira nodded in agreement. "That seems like it would be about right." He looked up at the collecting clouds with his usual determination. _Don't worry, Newspaper Girl. We're going to save you._

"That's unacceptable for a mother to think that way," Yusuke said. "We have to go there at once."

"Well, come on then!" Morgana shouted, transforming back into a bus. "We've got no time to waste!"

* * *

I finally saw the problem. It wasn't that I wasn't strong enough to move it, but that it was in fact affixed to my bedroom floor with several strong lead bolts. I'd been foolish not to notice this before, or at least think to check. I kicked the bed in frustration, wondering how I could have been so dumb.

Perhaps I would have to forget the bed. Maybe I could simply break the window with my own fists. No, no, I might kill myself doing that. Were there no fire extinguishers in this place? Any other small objects? My mother had all my belongings, and as such, my notebook was missing.

My notebook!

I started to panic a little. I _needed_ my notebook. God damn it, I really needed that thing. I couldn't live without writing.

That was it. I wasn't going to stand for this. I was going to get out of this room, or I was going to end up scratching words in the walls with my fingernails. I am quite certain that you and I would prefer the latter. Don't you think so too?

I'm glad we agree.

So with that decision made, I bent down and began wrestling with the bolts.

* * *

As Mona crossed through the asylum gates, the Phantom Thieves took on their costumes and masks again. Joker noted this, and began tightening his gloves.

"We're seen as threats now," Queen noted, "and we haven't even entered the Palace yet."

"I don't sense any Shadows though," Oracle told them. "I think we're safe for now."

"And as for that place," Ace said, indicating the enormous structure outside. "That place must be Ohya Shiori's asylum."

Everyone leaned towards Mona's windshield to take a look.

Beneath the cognitive storm which was shaking the world, lay a stately white and grey structure. It towered over them by what looked like nearly two dozen stories. Perhaps taller. Much taller than what could be expected of any sort of mental asylum in reality. Bars adorned the windows, and the door…

"The door's barricaded," Skull sounded bummed. "How are we supposed to get in?"

"I'm sure Joker can figure that out," Mona said encouragingly.

Joker concentrated for a moment, using the intuition ability which Igor had given him. _"It's somewhere…"_ After a moment, he opened his eyes and pointed. "We can use the window."

Everyone got out of the car and made their way to the window Joker had indicated. "How do we get through there?" Panther asked. In response, Joker smirked and reached for the bars. "They're loose." He yanked them free and prepared to jump in, when suddenly thunder cracked again and the world vanished.

The giant asylum was replaced by a normal sized Victorian mansion type building. A sign appeared, reading "Yokoyama Children's Home."

"An… an orphanage?!" Makoto gaped. "Why would Shiori think of an orphanage as an asylum?"

"And even besides," Haru added, "why did we transform back? What is with this Palace?"

Morgana meowed again.

Akira shrugged sheepishly. "Well… it looks like there's no need for us to break in anymore." He indicated the broken door of the orphanage. "We can just walk right in…"

* * *

The bed quaked as I shook it free of the bolts binding it to the floor. It sounded like it might fall apart. I began to wonder if perhaps this plan was a bad idea.

I didn't really have a choice, however. It was the best course of action I could take for leaving this place. So I raised the bed upwards, about to pierce the window with its wooden legs. But as I did so, a conspicuously loose floorboard caught my eye.

I stopped in my tracks. What could be under there? I didn't want my mother to suddenly come back and catch me in the middle of my escape, but my natural inquisitive qualities as an amateur journalist outweighed those concerns. So I leaned the rickety old bed against the wall and bent down to pry the floorboard open.

Inside the hidden space were dozens and dozens of papers. Forms. At a glance, I saw the same name inscribed on each of them… _"_ _大宅_ _詩織_ _..."_

My mother's name.

I snatched one of the forms out of the crevice in the floor and began examining it. I couldn't quite make out the date given, but it looked like the year was 1989, if I was reading that correctly. My mother would have been about seven years old.

 _ **RELEASE OF CUSTODY**_

The form bore two signatures on the bottom. I recognized the names… Ohya Manami and Sanji.

My mother's parents. My grandparents. I'd never met them, and neither Mother nor Auntie Ichiko had told me much about them. I'd never been interested in meeting them. Shouldn't this have been kept in an office or something? Why was it buried under a floorboard? And with many others like it. And the signatures…

The signatures looked messily done, almost as if—

"Could they be?" I said aloud, in shock. "Could this be… Mother!"

I feverishly dug through the forms. Looking at each one. My grandparents' signatures were all imperfect and inconsistent. My suspicions were almost confirmed. It was certain what what happened. To my mother. How could they do this to her?

I found the last paper, which unlike the rest, was not a release form. It was a letter. A letter to my mother.

 _13 April 1984_

 _Shiori,_

 _By time you're old enough to read this, we'll be long gone._

 _We'll be back someday to get you, once we get through this._

 _Love you._

 _Mom, Dad._

Another slip of paper contained instructions. Instructions to the orphanage staff. And at the bottom, a respectful signing off, and their signatures…

The same signatures, but they looked genuine.

No wonder Mother was so upset…

But why, why, had she taken me _here?_ Here, of all places?! I needed to try to find out. I needed to go. Now.

I stuffed the papers into my pockets, reached for the bed, and used it to shatter the window. Pieces of glass were scattered about, and I took cover behind the bed's thick mattress, which protected me from injury. Then, carefully telegraphing my movements in such a way that I would not come into contact with any sharp pieces, I replaced the bed back in its original position.

With that done, I carefully tiptoed around the glass on the floor, and began picking the remaining shards out of the frame before climbing through.

* * *

Akira stepped inside the orphanage, followed closely by Morgana, and even more closely by Makoto. "I'm scared," she whispered, softly. "This place is creepy."

He couldn't help but agree. It looked like a ghost lived there. The ghosts of children who had died there, perhaps. At this thought, he briefly considered the possibility of…

No, that couldn't happen. Newspaper Girl could not become a ghost here. Akira doubted that her mother would let such a thing happen, but then again, it didn't look like a very healthy place to be.

"I don't like this," Ryuji said nervously. "It's so damn quiet."

Sae nodded in agreement. "This atmosphere does not offer any reassurance."

Some small elements of the room shook and melted in and out—a sign of the unstable cognition in the area. Akira walked over to an open door, which led into a small dormitory.

" _I can feel it…_ there's something in there," Akira realized as he used his power. He entered the room and crawled under the bed, while the others watched him curiously.

"What are you doing?" Haru asked. A sound of wood splitting was heard.

" _Ouch,"_ Akira groaned as he fidgeted around beneath the bed. "I don't think I… Mona, can you get this thing?" He asked, pulling himself out from beneath.

Morgana yowled eagerly and dashed under the bed. A moment later, he emerged with several papers in his mouth.

"What are these things?" Ann took the papers and began reading them. After a moment of examining them, her face grew more and more confused. "They're… they're… !"

"What are they?" Yusuke looked over Ann's shoulder inquisitively.

"Custody release forms?" Sae read them closely with gradually widening eyes. "What would she want with these?"

And then there was another cognition quake.

Ace spun around in surprise, and her brilliant black gown moved with her. "We're—"

The dormitory had turned into a cell. The door was bolted shut, and there was a small black-haired girl in a plain white uniform sitting on the bed—which had turned into a plain white cot. She was confined in a straitjacket. Through the red lensed glasses she wore, the girl was staring off into space with a quiet, apathetic look.

"Hey," Joker shouted at the girl. She showed no response.

"Hey, Newspaper Girl!" he shouted again at the teenage journalist's cognitive representation. "What are you doing here?!"

Still no reply.

"Forget about her," Skull said, "we gotta get the hell out of here!" He pulled out his bat and made to swing it against the cell door. _"AAAAAAAAAAA—"_

"Skull!" Queen cried out. "Don't do that!"

It was too late. Skull's bat collided with the door and snapped in two. Bits of plastic flew everywhere.

"What the hell?!" he yelled indignantly, not believing it. "It broke!"

"Weren't you paying attention?!" Mona was very annoyed. "The cognition here is still only half-formed. Our weapons don't work like normal!"

"Oh damn it!" Skull hit his face with his palm. "I forgot!"

"Well, now you don't have a bat," Panther said, in a sarcastic fake sad voice.

"Never mind that!" Noir indicated a small projector beneath the cot. "I think this projector does something…"

Noir took the projector out of the bed, and it began whirring as it displayed a film.

"What's this?" Fox wondered. "Entertainment? In a psychiatric hospital?"

"No," Mona said, eyeing the projection curiously. "I think this is a cognition. Shiori's cognition of the memory she left behind."

"A memory…" Queen thought a moment. "Like those picture puzzles in Futaba's tomb?"

"It seems so," Joker agreed. "We should watch it. It may give us some clue on how we'll be able to change Shiori's heart."

The film began to play. It was of low picture quality and lacked sound or color. The Phantom Thieves thus began to watch, as Ohya Shiori's first memory revealed itself.

* * *

 _ **1984 - "My new home."**_

 _ **A small child is deposited upon the doorstep of Yokoyama Children's Home, carrying a small envelope.**_

 _ **She is smiling. Excited, to get to know everyone.**_

 _ **No one wants to talk to her.**_

 _ **She's fine with that.**_

 _ **She has made the best of friends.**_

 _ **The food is made of old, soggy, overcooked leftovers**_

 _ **The best food.**_

 _ **Everything is happy.**_

" _ **Your parents will come back soon."**_

 _ **1987**_

" _ **When are they coming?"**_

 _ **There is no answer.**_

 _ **1989**_

 _ **She stops asking.**_

 _ **The child attempts a signature.**_

 _ **And another. And another. And another.**_

 _ **She knows it won't work.**_

 _ **Having lost all hope, she hides her memory in the floorboards.**_

 _ **Her parents are soon forgotten.**_

 _ **Who needs parents anyway?**_

 _ **Her happy, parentless life goes on.**_

 _ **Having found freedom, she breathes easy…**_

 _ **She's safe here.**_

 _ **She will always be safe here.**_

* * *

The projector whirred as the film ran out.

"So her parents… just… abandoned her?" Panther was appalled.

"Why…" Noir gasped, "why would they do that?"

Ace and Queen in particular looked terribly pained after witnessing Shiori's memory. Meanwhile, Joker's gloved hands were now balled into tight fists.

It reminded him all too much of how nonchalantly his parents had deposited him onto that train. Without a single word goodbye. Except, while he was only being left for a year, Shiori had been forsaken almost her entire life. No wonder she had become so bitter, so obsessed with protecting her own child.

And it was also hardly any wonder that she had developed a Palace like this.

"Hey."

The cognitive Newspaper Girl stood up, her arms struggling beneath her straitjacket.

"You should leave."

"We're not leaving," Joker said firmly, glaring at the cognition. "You asked us to come here. To save you."

"I can't imagine why I did that," the girl said in a slightly derisive tone. "I must be insane. I shouldn't reject my mother's safety like that."

"No!" Skull yelled at her, "it's your mom who's insane!"

Ohya Shiori's cognition of her daughter blinked. Her expression shifted from its blank state into one of pure amusement.

"Well, I suppose that's true," she decided. "In that case, I can tell you how to get out of this cell. But first I need you to release me." Cognitive Newspaper Girl looked down, indicating the straitjacket.

"Can we do that?" Fox wondered. "I've no idea how to untie a straitjacket."

"And, she is a mental patient after all," Noir pointed out sensibly. "The real girl may be safe, but Shiori's cognition of her could be dangerous. We should be very cautious."

"I don't want to hurt you," Newspaper Girl assured them. "I just want to get away from my mother so I can get myself killed by the monster outside."

The Phantom Thieves all gasped.

"Killed?!" Queen yelled. "We-we can't let you do that! What are you talking about?!"

"That's what my mother says," the girl told them, smiling. "I know she loves me, but I don't care. I just love getting myself hurt. Me and my insolent, nosy aunt. _Hahahahaha!"_

The patient laughed, and laughed, and laughed. She sounded truly demented.

Queen was stunned. "This is what Ohya Shiori thinks of her daughter?!"

"That she's rejecting her help, and her love," Ace agreed, sounding quite saddened by the revelation. "Shiori must not be able to comprehend why her daughter would want to escape her protection."

"And so this is how she rationalizes it," Mona concluded slowly. "Yeah. That would make sense."

Newspaper Girl kept cackling like mad. Joker looked at her a moment, then said, "I think we have to let her go."

"And let her go die?!" Panther protested. "No! We can't do that!"

"Panther, chill out," Skull said, "I don't think she can really die."

"Yeah," Oracle agreed, "I don't think so either."

Joker nodded in agreement. "Panther, you remember when you awakened to your Persona and attacked Kamoshida's cognition of you with that sword? And yet she reappeared with him as fine as ever when we stole his Treasure."

"That's true," Panther noted, "but still, it doesn't seem right."

"We're doing it." Queen's eyes were cold. "Joker, let me have one of your lockpicks."

Joker obliged his Queen and she began working away busily at the locks which held together Cognitive Newspaper Girl's restraints. Within moments, the patient was free. She laughed again, elated at her newfound release.

"My mother's hug was so constricting," she told them as she happily stretched her limbs. "Thank you so much, you lovely little thieves. Now, I'll do as I promised, and tell you where you can find my wretched little mom."

Joker stepped forward. "Very well. Where's Shiori's Treasure?"

"You'll have quite a bit of trouble breaking out of here," the patient told them. "Mother's got the master keys, which open the largest cell in the asylum, the solitary confinement. They also open the gates to this place. But she's hiding away with them in her office, and there's no opening, and no way in."

"So what do we do," Ace wondered, "if there's no way to get in?"

Newspaper Girl let loose an excited, demented, smile—one which, Joker was quite certain, could not be credible to the real Newspaper Girl. It was quite disturbing how little Ohya Shiori knew of her daughter.

"What do you think?" she said, excitably. "You'll have to get the Warden to come to you! Perhaps you'll get her attention if you organize a jailbreak."

"So we have to break out all the inmates," Fox deduced. "That sounds like a perfect objective for the Phantom Thieves. Is that not what you did for me, with Sen—Madarame, in a sense?"

"But what if some of the patients are dangerous?" Oracle pointed out. "If we release anyone who causes more trouble—"

"Then that's all the better," Joker answered, smirking. "The more trouble they make, the easier it'll be to get the attention of Shiori's Shadow."

"But Newspaper Girl just said that the keys are locked in the office with Shiori," Panther reminded them. "So how are we supposed to release the inmates?"

The liberated patient cackled again. "I swiped a key on the way in!" She retrieved a small, long thin key from her pocket. Joker took it, and looked at it closely. There were some small numbers written on the side, but Joker only gave so much attention to them before returning his attention to cognitive Newspaper Girl.

 _ **G**_ _ **o**_ _ **T!**_

 _ **Asylum Key x 1**_

"Well, I'll be on my way now," the girl said cheerfully. "Mr. Phantom, won't you be a dear and unlock this door?"

"Um… sure." Joker walked over to the cell door, inserted the key, and opened it up. She smiled gratefully at him and exited.

"Oh, by the way," she told him, "that key only opens the first two cells. You'll need to find the rest of them."

"And where will we find those?" Mona inquired.

"For that matter," Queen added, "how many of them ARE there, exactly?"

She laughed again. "Well, I'm sure the rest of the inmates will have them. I've no clue how many there are, though." The cognitive Newspaper Girl giggled. "Good luck freeing my fellow patients! I'll be off to go get killed by the terrible monster now. Now, toodaloo!"

The patient skipped away energetically. Joker and the others stepped out of the cell, watching her disappear down the halls.

And those halls were, to put it simply, quite a sight to see. Strange crayon drawings adorned many white walls. And those white walls which made up the hallways were vast, endless and seemingly unnavigable. The patient which they had just released was walking all along the sides, or perhaps the ceiling.

In the spaces which could be seen beyond, doors seemed to emerge from any corner where any two walls met. Stairs that looked like they ought to go up went down, and some of them didn't go either up or down. There was no obvious way out. Gravity seemed to hold no meaning.

"What a spectacle of a Palace this is," Fox said, marveling at the alien dimensions before them.

"It looks impossible to find our way in this place," Panther noted, seeming quite worried. "How are we supposed to get to the Treasure like this?"

"You have me!" Oracle pointed out, as she leaped inside of Prometheus and flew into the air high above them. But a mere moment later, her voice seemed to express confusion. "Uh… I can't…"

"Why is it like this?" Ace wondered, absolutely bewildered "Shido's Palace was nowhere near this physically warped."

"Her Palace seems unusually distorted, probably because of the cognition under which it was manifested," Mona told them. "It's only just started to emerge, and on top of that, we sent the calling card on the same day the Palace formed. So who knows what place the Treasure is in, or what the topography looks like."

"I can't get a clear reading!" Oracle alerted them, re-emerging out of her Persona and touching the ground again. "It seems like it keeps changing!"

"So it's still… gettin' used to the cognition, yeah?" Skull asked.

Mona nodded. "I think once it's solidified more, we should be able to have a better idea where everything is."

"All right," Queen said, diligently. "In the meantime, we should explore further, and be careful."

"Before we go," Joker added, "you should all take a look at this."

Everyone crowded around him. In his hands was the key which the cognitive Newspaper Girl had given to them.

The numbers inscribed on it read _13484._

"Is that, like, a code or somethin'?" Skull asked.

"No," Mona said. "I think it's more meaningful than that. There was a letter with those forms. Panther, do you still have those with you?"

Panther retrieved the papers which they had found previously and rifled through them for a moment. "I don't think I see… oh!"

"The date on this letter…" Oracle indicated the numbers. "It looks like that's the date that… they left her here."

 _13 April 1984._

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"We should remember that," Joker said slowly. "It could be important later on."

The Thieves all nodded in agreement, and turned to face the endless shifting halls, ready to infiltrate the asylum.

* * *

The patient finally found a way out and, climbing out the broken window, cackled brilliantly. Thanks to those pleasant Thieves, she had escaped the asylum at last. _"I'm FREEEEEE!"_ she yelled to the wind, kicking off the uncomfortable shoes that her feet had been stuck inside for so long. She massaged her bare foot for a moment, before running off into the night.

Finally, she was free of the oppressive Warden's wishes. Her mother would never hug her again! There would be no more safety, no more hiding, and everything would be the happiest thing ever from now on! It was all going to be the most sunshiney rainbow of life from here on.

She'd go drink a lot of booze, research dangerous stories, eat dozens of cupcakes. She and her Auntie Ichiko would have a wonderful time! Everything would be the best thing ever! The best! It was going to be so great. Oh, she could taste it! She could almost taste the _freedom, the_ _ **FREEDOM OF—**_

 _bang_

Oh, yeah, she'd almost forgotten the monster… the monster her mother had been protecting her from. That evil thing that lurked in the woods.

" _HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… ha… ha…_ ha… bleh… Thanks for helping me, mister… _ack."_

The girl coughed up a bit of blood and phlegm, as the threat bashed her head in with the barrel of his pistol. The patient was so happy to be killed by this thing. Despite the clear and obvious threat it posed to her, it filled her with joy. It was so much better and more exciting than her mother's ridiculous safety.

As the cognitive Newspaper Girl faded away into shadow, the mysterious man headed off to the place which she had been running from. There was a small _click_ as he reloaded his weapon, and an ill-meaning smile creeped its way across his frightening visage.

Although he himself looked quite like an escaped mental patient, his interest was not to flee the asylum.

His true intent was quite the opposite.

* * *

 _ **Okay okay okay I ALMOST DIED WRITING THIS... I think.**_

 _ **Shit happened again... again... again... I got hung up on lame shit unrelated to this chapter and some not-lame shit totally related to this chapter. And I wasn't really getting enough sleep. So 50% of this was written over the last week and like, the rest of it was written today, after I had slept properly. And another maybe 60% got thrown out? Idk. ish.**_

 _ **I got the some of the ideas for the asylum in part from Psychonauts, which, if you don't know, is an excellent platforming game about mental worlds with a terrifically executed 60s spy movie motif. It's actually one of the reasons I got interested in Persona 5, cause, Psychonauts is one of the best games I've ever played, and P5 looked much similar in the way its mental worlds are structured. Except, well, the theme is different, and your reason for going inside the mental worlds is way different, as are the characters the worlds revolve around. But, they're both really cool games with good psychological concepts and stuff. So I liked them both.**_

 _ **But the funny thing about all thus is... that there are all these cool colorful mental worlds and stuff... and the asylum tower is like, the one "level" which isn't actually a mental world! It's one of the coolest areas of the game because it's so creepy and looks cool (but it's also one of the most annoying because of the exploding rats and tedious platforming through a convoluted and nearly deserted environment). So I thought, hmm yeah, it'd be cool if the asylum was a mental world. Cause then crazy stuff could happen. And stuff.**_

 _ **Anyway, that's that. I'm excited to write the next chapter! As always, please feel free to comment and stuff/stuff/etc/stuff/things/stuff/more stuff/tired of stuff/have a great day/stuff/etc/yay! Er, yeah. Comments or support or kudos or whatever totally appreciated. And input on whatever might happen after this. We already have a bunch of ideas, but your ideas are good too. Thank you for reading! Reading is the most important, in the end.**_

 _ **Love you all! :)**_

 _ **(oh uh btw sorry to go on and on about how all my ideas come from somewhere else but like... my ideas come from somewhere else. Idea machines need fuel.)**_

 **Mac: Yo! Sorry that this one took a while, but as Josiah said, idea machines need fuel, and they also need to rest! (No really, Josiah, don't go being awake 24/7, it's not easy or healthy! ;P) There was a lot of struggle for this one, that's for sure. Mainly trying to decide if we were going full Psychonauts or not with this. Hope you enjoyed, and that you'll stay for the next one~!**


	30. Visiting Hours

_**Sorry this took so long! I have big plans for everything going on here and sorting them has been very difficult. I've also had a very difficult last two weeks. Adjusting to life in another country is, well, super hard. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

I hadn't quite properly judged the drop out of the window. It was not a particularly pleasant fall. But thankfully, I made it down to the ground with little injury, besides a few scratches and a slightly sprained ankle. Not too bad… _ouch._

Okay. I admit, my ankle's condition was actually causing me quite a bit of discomfort at that moment. Yelping in pain, I threw away my shoe and attempted to snap my foot back into shape. At touching it, I felt a deep jab of pain. My feet were very sensitive for some reason I wasn't sure why, but perhaps it had something to do with me massaging them so much.

As much as I looked up to Auntie Ichiko, her job seemed to be much more than anything I could handle. Perhaps I could get a nice desk job writing articles on the internet. After all, Mishima had told me before that that's where most news is trending these days.

I laughed at the thought. Me? A desk job? No way! The very concept bored me. No, I was well-suited to field research like this. As painful as it was falling out of a window, and as unfortunate as these current circumstances were, I didn't think I'd want to be doing anything but tracking down clues leading to intriguing stories.

And what story could be more intriguing than my mother's? I had always been wondering how she had come to be the way she was. It seemed that she had lost her youth. And that this place was where she had left it behind.

If I could find it again, perhaps the Phantom Thieves wouldn't need to change her heart. Perhaps I could save her myself.

* * *

The Phantom Thieves made their best effort to progress, dashing and leaping through the twirling, ever-expanding, impossible halls of Ohya Shiori's daunting asylum. As they did so, Joker began to forget which way was left, right, up, down. Direction seemed to hold no meaning here. There was no objects nor blind spots to hide in or behind— not that there was a need to, as there were no Shadows.

Still, it was very unsettling. Should any enemies appear, the team wouldn't have many options. Especially as they were unable to utilize cognition to its full potential…

"How strange," Fox observed, as they turned the corner upwards into the passage below. "It looks like a happy child and her parents, but they aren't smiling…"

He was quite correct. The crayon picture was rather rudimentary, and depicted a stick-figure child and two parents. They were standing next to a colorful house with a small garden featuring a single yellow flower. While the child was smiling, the parents looked quite displeased— as displeased as could be conveyed in crayon, anyway.

"Then why is the girl happy?" Ace wondered. "If her parents aren't, then…"

"Perhaps it's symbolic of something," Noir suggested, "that happened to Shiori. Something she wants to believe wasn't so bad?"

"It's gotta mean something," Joker agreed. "Let's press on, and maybe we'll find out what's going on here."

As the thieves delved deeper into the asylum, the drawings upon the walls switched up a little, changing between a dark house, colorful house, happy, unhappy, parents dead and not dead, flower wilting and growing. Joker wasn't sure of their meaning at all, but the child was smiling in each picture.

The asylum continued spinning, baffling his eyes beyond comprehension. Running across what could possibly have been the ceiling, but was more likely the floor, he began to forget…

"Why's this place so mixed up?!" Skull complained, as the team turned upwards, rounding another corner into yet another identical looking hall. "It's impossible to get anywhere around here! I don't know where we even started!"

"I think it has to do with how she saw the orphanage," Mona answered.

Queen nodded in agreement. "She must have seen it as a huge, confusing place. Impossible to escape from."

"And coupling that with the fact that it's still only partly formed, and the layout probably isn't final," Noir added, "it may be like this for a while, and only continue to change."

"How are we supposed to continue on then?!" Panther asked in frustration. "There are no signs or directions or anything!"

Oracle groaned in frustration. "Is it random then? Like Mementos?"

"Wait a minute. Stop talking," Joker directed, holding up his hand. Everyone ceased conversation. "Directions…"

He examined the drawings on the wall carefully. They all seemed to be part of something. Something like…

"Skull, Queen," Joker said, "you read manga a lot, don't you?"

"Well… sometimes," Queen admitted, "if I find something interesting and have the opportunity."

"Yep," Skull confirmed, "I read it all the time. What about it, dude?"

"The walls," Joker said. "Look at these pictures. Aren't they telling a story?"

Everyone froze for a second and looked around at the pictures on the walls. They were in the center of two hallways, which had come together in an intersection. Behind them, was one drawing at the end of the hall from which they had come. To the left, right, and directly forward, three more, one at the end of each hall.

"Now that you mention it," Noir said, "there does indeed seem to be a connection. Is this—"

"Oh yeah!" Skull realized. "Seems like it's all about Shiori and her parents!"

"So this panel here… and that panel there…" Mona muttered, "some sort of puzzle. These outcomes can't all be true."

"We're at a crossroads," Ace deduced. "We need to pick the right picture."

"The right picture," Queen agreed, "yes, it seems so. Or else we'll find ourselves back here again, and won't be able to progress."

"I see. So we need to follow the story," Fox summarized. "That seems straightforward enough."

"Okay!" Skull looked at the pictures. "It seems like… wait, which one was first?"

Joker looked behind them, and saw the original picture— the smiling child and her angry parents, and the happy colorful house with its minimalist garden.

The three pictures they had to choose from were the house, but burned down, the parents, dead, and… the original picture. It looked the same, but Joker couldn't shake the feeling that it was different, somehow. The child was always the same, smiling. Still smiling.

"I think her house must've burned down!" Skull decided. "Maybe she burned down the house, and that's why her parents threw her out!"

"Why would she burn down the house?" Panther asked, skeptically. "That seems like a bit of a jump."

"Well, like, she was a kid!" Skull pointed out. "Maybe she was playing with fire. I mean, it can't be that her parents died, right? They had to drop her off here and all."

"I suppose that's true…" Queen decided. "But the third option, it staying the same. Couldn't that be…"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Skull insisted. "Like, isn't it the same thing? There's almost no difference! Can't be that!"

"Joker, what do you think?" Mona asked.

Joker looked at the pictures very carefully, and thought it over for a moment. Was there really no… ?

"I think this is the right one."

Queen nodded. "I think so too."

"What?!" Skull yelled, confused. "I don't get this! I… I forgot which of those was which! What are you talkin' about?"

"I don't get it either," Panther said, "what about it is—"

"I understand. It's like all of the Sayuris in Madarame's Palace," Fox chimed in. "I see the difference as well."

Everyone still looked a little baffled.

"Look at it," Joker implored them, pointing at the flower. "See? It's wilting and dying. Turning black."

"Oh…" Skull seemed a little embarrassed at not having realized that. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Don't worry about it, Skull," Noir said encouragingly. "I didn't notice it either until Joker pointed it out."

"Neither did I," Ace added. "But seeing it now, I would agree that it appears to be the most likely option. Shall we proceed?"

Joker nodded, and the Phantom Thieves ran down the hallway to the next intersection.

Now, they were greeted by three new drawings, slightly more refined than the previous ones.

"Okay!" Panther said happily. "we're actually getting somewhere!"

"Let's see," Queen said. "We already had the family and the house, the flower wilting…"

"It looks like the flower is coming back as a ghost," Fox commented, looking down the hall to their left.

"This one's…" in the front, Noir seemed disturbed. "It looks like they're leaving…"

"The girl still seems happy," Panther noted, "so I guess she hasn't realized what's happened yet? Wait, is the sun lower than the other pictures, too?"

"And this one," Skull realized, "it's like… it's in a rainstorm."

"It wasn't raining when Shiori was abandoned," Ace said, "at least, the film didn't show that. So that one seems unlikely."

"I'd say the flower ghost is out," Joker opined, "that's probably just a dream she had or something."

"Meaning…" Mona mused, "it's either the sunny day or the storm."

"Well, it all depends what her cognition was, right?" Oracle said, carefully. "It's about how she saw the day, not how it actually was."

"I think it might be reasonable to suppose that she saw it as a gloomy rainstorm, then," Queen decided. "It must have been a difficult day for her."

Joker considered this carefully, before nodding. "Rainstorm it is, then."

The team followed the path of the stormy drawing, and made it to the next hallway. There, they were greeted by three crayon drawings of a child, parents and a house.

"Wait," Skull said, "didn't we see these before?"

"Maybe it's a trick," Mona suggested. "Look for some subtle differences!"

Fox examined them carefully. "No, it seems they are the same as the first set. Something is wrong."

Joker sighed in frustration. "That would mean that—"

"Yes," Queen shook her head. "We picked the wrong drawing, and now we have to start all over again."

* * *

My first order of business was finding my notebook. I would definitely need it to take notes on all that was happening here, and to keep my sanity in check. So I got myself together and began looking for it.

Finding it did not take long— it was simply lying in the dirt next to the car. It appeared that it had fallen from one of my bags. I supposed this was only natural, as I had many notebooks, and had crammed the pockets full of them. In fact, it would have been a small wonder if one of them _hadn't_ been dropped.

So I picked it up and re-entered the building. As I did so, I slowed my pace— in part to not alert my mother to the fact that I had escaped my confinement, but also to get a good look at everything around me. It really was quite a pretty place, even if it was falling apart and impossible to live in.

The halls around me were of a very diverse color palette. It looked like they had been repainted many times, as layers were peeling off the wall, revealing many more colors beneath. Orange, blue, green, red, yellow, brown. The paint jobs were all rather poorly done, which signaled that the orphanage quite probably had had a low budget behind them.

As I walked through these strange halls, I nearly tripped on another floorboard, which someone had displaced and later reattached at an odd angle. I hastily put out my other foot and stopped my fall. Having prevented myself from falling flat on my face, I stood myself up and made to step over the obstacle. But as I did so, I spotted something colorful beneath.

Perhaps Mother had moved this floorboard as well. It didn't seem to have been a common practice amongst the wards, so I could only guess that it was her. And so I reached for the board and pulled it gently. But it wasn't coming loose.

Well, that made sense. It seemed to be nailed down very tightly. The nails holding it in didn't look quite as old as the wood it bound, or the other nails— and certainly nowhere near as rusty. I guessed that this was the most recent fix in a long line of fixes.

Since I had no way of opening it, I decided to forget it for now and instead continue searching.

The kitchen was the next thing to catch my eye. It was very messy, and the floor was covered with water and food scraps. Where was the water coming from?

I peered inside, and spotted the source— a pipe from the open underside of the sink had a huge hole in it. This posed several questions: First, where was this water coming from? Who was paying for it? Why was it still running to this place anyway? And how had it not flooded the entire building by this point?

The last of those was answered when I noticed a small drain in the floor which was keeping the water at bay. These were on either side of the room. That, I supposed, was a good thing, even if it still had me wondering…

Oh.

A small cockroach crawled its way out of the drain, and I held back a scream. What the hell was going on here?!

There weren't many things that could disturb me, but cockroaches were one exception. Everywhere I'd seen them smelled quite disgusting. If they could talk, they'd almost certainly swear like sailors and have the general attitude of unrefined 14-year-old male adolescents with poorly maintained hygiene.

All that aside, my mother was truly crazy for thinking we could live here. Or whatever her plan was. I supposed it was highly probable that she had no intention of actually staying here for long.

I also noticed that there was some scarce food residue in various plastic containers, which more roaches were crawling around in. They were all labeled with various names, and all seemed to have fallen out of that toppled bin in the corner, marked _leftovers._

It seemed the influences to my mother's cooking ran deep.

I wasn't interested one bit in setting foot inside the kitchen. I was also very glad I'd put my shoes back on before going inside. As uncomfortable as I found them, I was quite certain I did not want bare feet touching these floors. I barely wanted to touch any of the floors at all, especially after finding that this place was infested with roaches (and quite possibly other manner of vermin as well). But, what else was I supposed to do with my time? It's not like you would have had any better ideas, had you been here with me.

Finding a tools closet in the hallway just beyond, I took a crowbar, and set about prying open the floorboard.

* * *

"Okay, we made it!" Joker gasped. "We… we found our way…"

"This last drawing," Fox marveled. "This is the most vivid one yet…"

As they had continued, the drawings had gone from crayon, to pastel, to colored pencil… and now, this one. The style was relatively amateur, for sure, and still minimalistic, but it looked startling nonetheless.

It was a drawing of Ohya Shiori at the edge. Below that edge, a roaring flame which threatened to tickle her feet. On the child's face, still, a beaming smile spread across her face. This final picture was spread not on a small wall bordering a corner as the others had been, but across a humongous barrier blocking their path.

"That smile," Panther said, unnerved. "It's still there. Even as she's about to jump and burn."

"She was smiling," Oracle realized. "Even as she was abandoned, abused, neglected, she was trying to smile through all of it."

A moment of silence passed through the halls.

"Anyway," Queen said, her voice low. "There's a keyhole here. Joker, maybe you should try that key you found before."

"All right," Joker agreed, pulling out the key and inserting it into the lock. He turned it, but nothing happened.

"It appears we will need another key," Ace said. "Was there another room anywhere along the way?"

"Come to think of it," Noir replied, thoughtfully, "there is a kitchen nearby." She gestured in its direction. "Perhaps we'll find a clue in there."

As the Phantom Thieves turned to see where she was pointing, the walls shook, and the world turned over again. At which point, seven normal teenagers, one cat, and a prosecutor materialized on the ceiling of an ordinary orphanage.

Akira fell to the normal, gravity-abiding floor, hitting his head on an incorrectly attached floorboard. "Ow!"

The other Phantom Thieves suffered similar fates, all falling to the hard wooden floor with several consecutive _bumps._ Morgana yowled in pain. _"MROWW!"_

"I thought cats always landed on their feet," Yusuke said, amused. "I suppose there are always exceptions."

Shaking his head in response to Yusuke's quip, Morgana began to comment on the situation. "Seems like when the cognition shifted we were displaced into the closest real-world space matching our current positions."

"What?" Ryuji was trying to snap his leg back into shape, still flinching from the impact. "How can you talk here now?"

"I think the cognition quakes are becoming more stable," Morgana said matter-of-factly. "If everything is as I've hypothesized, the Palace should work like normal soon."

Futaba pushed her glasses back into place. "I think, before it changed again, that I was sensing things a little clearer— _AGH!"_ She suddenly scampered away from her previous position. "That's so gross!"

"Futaba!" Makoto took Futaba by the shoulders and held her with sister-like affection. "Don't worry, everything's alright—" but then she looked up and shrieked as well. "What on Earth?!"

Akira turned his head to where they were looking, seeing what was getting them all so freaked out. His eyes widened.

They had landed right outside the real-life kitchen, in which a load of old containers and utensils were seen, floating in stagnant water that pooled out from the leaking sink. Many swarms of cockroaches surrounded the mess. Seeing this, Akira supposed it was no wonder that Makoto and Futaba had freaked out.

"Oh! That is a disgusting sight." Yusuke seemed revolted, but much calmer, in response to their appearance. Perhaps he had had to deal with such vermin before in Madarame's shack, or other places he might have stayed over his long "career."

"Well, never mind them," Morgana said nonchalantly. They didn't seem to bother him very much. "Anyway, it looks like this floorboard—"

"Yeah, I think so too!" Ryuji shouted eagerly. He kicked it, and immediately cried out in pain. _"Owwww_ I stubbed my toe! Damn it!"

"And this is why you should look before you leap…" Ann sighed.

Sae nodded in agreement. "Some of you tend to do things a little too hastily. Did none of you notice that closet over there? Perhaps it could help us break open this floorboard."

"Oh yeah!" Ryuji rushed over to the closet. "I totally noticed that! Er, I just thought kicking it might be quicker." He opened it, and began looking. "Er… which of these is…"

"Stand aside, Ryuji-kun," Haru commanded, approaching the closet. She reached inside and excitedly pulled out a crowbar. "This would be perfect for bashing heads in!"

"Uh…"

The rest of the team looked quite disturbed by that statement.

"Er, I mean, prying the floorboard open," the Empress said nervously, realizing the abnormality of her words. She handed the crowbar to Akira. "I'll let you handle this!"

Akira slowly held out his hand, awkwardly took the crowbar and, careful not to let it near anyone's head, leveraged it against the floorboard.

* * *

I had been prying away at the board for about fiveten minutes, perhaps, and it still wasn't free. Coming, certainly, but not quite free. My small frame was certainly of little help. I pulled harder, and harder…

After about forty seconds more of fighting with the crowbar, I decided to change strategies. Rather than pull with my arms, I shifted my body weight to use as leverage. Pushing against it with my upper body, I forced the metal rod further, before long there was a loud _snap_ as the wood broke open. The resulting kinetic energy sent me tumbling onto my sides, and a sharp pain found its way into my hips, before quickly disappearing.

I stood up, retrieved the red-tipped crowbar, and admired my handiwork. The floorboard was open now. Brilliant. I reached for my wet notebook, which had fallen out of my pocket, and—

Wait, why was it wet?

The sharp pain suddenly assaulted my nerves once again, and I found myself kneeling on the floor, flinching. Ouch. What. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch, oh goodness me damn it what had I done.

It had been a good long time since I had been hurt this bad.

Somewhere on the way to the floor, the crowbar's end had planted itself in my flesh. So now there was a crowbar-shaped hole in me. Letting out blood. And blood. And more blood. Ack.

"Fuck!" I said aloud, taking off my shirt and wrapping it around my waist in an effort to stop the bleeding. "Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck!" I hardly ever cursed, but, I figured this was a pretty good time for it.

Thankfully I wasn't losing too much blood, but, I'd been really, really reckless about this. Why had I decided to use myself to gain more leverage? Surely I could have found a hammer or another crowbar or something.

Speaking of which, why was there a crowbar in that tool closet anyway? And why wasn't there a lock on it? Even assuming that the orphanage staff did need a crowbar for whatever reason, wouldn't it have been safest to lock the closet up so none of the children could get inside? Not to mention all the many other tools in there which could—

Oh. There was nothing else inside the closet.

Well, then who the hell left this thing here?! Why would it be here? Was it Mother? Perhaps she had left it behind so that it would be easier to find her old knickknacks again if ever she wanted to.

Well, whatever, none of that mattered. What mattered was the item she'd left. I approached the open floorboard, and inside, spotted a small, colorful fan. It appeared to be handmade, and bore my mother's name, scribbled on the side in messy handwriting.

Now, what was the story behind this? I picked it up and examined it curiously. But as I did so, something else happened which briefly drew my attention away.

The air at my feet parted in a strange way, as if it were opening up. I felt an odd prickling sensation in my toes, and the moisture surrounding my shoes vanished. I looked down to the floor, searching for the source of this strange occurrence.

My blood was gone.

* * *

With great, painstaking effort, Akira uprooted the nails binding the board to the floor. "All right," he gasped semi-triumphantly, exhausted. "Let's see what secret you've buried here, Ohya Shiori."

Akira retrieved the fan beneath the floor. But as he did so, another disruption in the cognition occurred.

Seemingly from out of nowhere, a small puddle of blood began to pool around his shoes.

 _Blood._

Akira yelped and leaped back, shaking in fear. His face was white with shock. Where did this come from? What on Earth had happened? Or was happening, right at this very moment? What… "What is this?"

He remembered, even more vividly than before…

"Akira!" shouted Ryuji. "What the hell's wrong with you?!"

" _You don't want to kill me… You don't want to kill anyone…"_

" _That— that's not—"_

"I…" Akira swallowed. "I'm dead…"

Is this what Igor had meant, when he had said it was useless? What if… if…

His teammates all started yelling at him, but Akira was barely cognizant of it.

" _Get back up, Akira!"_

" _What's going on? Did this…"_

" _Wait! Where did this blood come from?!"_

" _ **AKIRA!"**_

A gentle hand gripped Akira's shoulder.

* * *

Makoto was freaked out by the blood, but certainly not as much as Akira was. She was a lot more freaked out by this sudden fit he was having. He hadn't been this freaked out since she'd accidentally— well, that wasn't important.

"Akira!" Makoto yelled, placing her hand firmly on his shoulder. "You're fine. You're alive. I'm here."

To prove it, she kissed him lightly on the lips. His eyes opened wide in shock, and he pulled away, pushing Makoto to the floor.

"What-what did I—" Makoto pulled herself up and looked down, realizing that the Palace had changed back to normal and she was now wearing her Phantom Thief outfit.

Queen took off her mask and slowly approached Joker. She held his hand in hers, but it seemed he was still afraid.

"Those… those gloves…"

* * *

" _Have you finally pieced it all together?"_

 _Akechi tightens his shiny black gloves, firmly gripping the silenced pistol._

 _Akira looks at Akechi defiantly, but he is terrified._

" _You… bastard…"_

* * *

Queen removed her thief gloves and touched his face. "Akira, it's alright. We're here."

"The blood. Why…"

"It's someone else's blood," she assured him. "not yours. You're okay. We came back. We're not dead."

"Oh, this blood?" called out a familiar voice, accompanied by a series of slurping noises. "It's quite delicious!"

"Who is that…" groaned Joker. Overwhelmed, he passed out, falling out of Queen's arms and landing on the floor with a loud _thud_ , splattering the mysterious blood everywhere.

"You?!" Skull yelled at the inmate who had spoken. "What are you doing here? Didn't you skip away to go die and stuff?! And what the hell happened to Joker?!"

"Well— the interrogation room," Ace supposed. "He did die, after all…"

"Never mind that for now," Oracle said, "what about _her?"_

Shiori's impatient patient Newspaper Girl was locked away inside another cell above them. The base of her cell was not aligned with that of the kitchen, in keeping with the bizarre architectural style of the asylum. The blood had trickled all over the walls, and ultimately led under the door to the patient's cell.

"Is this blood yours?" Fox inquired. "It seems to have provoked a great deal of alarm from our leader."

"What?! Oh no," the patient laughed, "If I could discharge this much blood I think I'd be dead by now! It does taste quite like my blood, but I can't imagine where it came from. I thought I was the only one cutting themselves around here!"

"Cutting yourself?" Oracle wondered. "I see…"

"Oh?" Noir wondered. "What of it?"

"Before you all… changed my heart," Oracle explained, "I cut myself from time to time."

"But why… why would you do that?" Panther asked.

"To… because… I felt real when I did it!" Oracle seemed like she was trying not to get upset. "It was the only time I felt really alive…"

Newspaper Girl nodded eagerly. "Yeah! It feels exciting and adrenaline-fueling when I lose a little blood. That, and the thrill of going against my mother's will. Quite simulating!" She snickered, as though it were truly hilarious. "Without that catharsis, I feel quite… empty. And bored."

Oracle closed her eyes, somewhat shamefully, and bowed her head in agreement. "Our reasons for it are somewhat inverted, but… yeah. When I did it, I sucked at the wounds and swallowed my own blood. It's a common practice… for sanitary reasons."

"Sanitary reasons?" Ace interjected, seeming confused. "How would that help keep things cleaner?"

"Because… well… it's a lot cleaner than leaving it in the trash to attract bugs and stuff! Why do you think doctors throw used rubber gloves into a special bucket? That, and well… so Sojiro wouldn't find out what I was doing…" She looked at the cognitive Newspaper Girl. "I suppose you did the same thing…"

"Whatever," Skull said somewhat impatiently, "that's gross and I don't wanna talk about it! Do you have a key?"

Newspaper Girl looked confused. "Who, me? What about it?"

"Geez, did you forget already?!" Skull was extremely frustrated.

"You promised us that the inmates of this asylum would have the keys," Queen reminded her, "and that they would give them to us so we could break them out. Where are all the other inmates? Why are you the only one we've seen?"

"Inmates? Keys?" The patient's eyes lit up as she came to comprehend. "Oh, I see! You must have met one of my sisters!" She cackled. "So you don't yet understand? Ah, well, no worries. Yes, I do have a key! I'll gladly give it you if you let me out, so that I may spill all my blood with the big knife in that kitchen!"

"The… big knife?" Panther looked sick. "I don't even want to think about that…"

"I only have this little old knife." She showed it to them eagerly. It was a small penknife, and looked rather rusty and dull. "It's extremely inefficient. I'd really like to speed it up!"

"N-never mind that!" Noir said nervously, quite disturbed by the detail she was giving. "We don't need to know! Let's let her out! Who has the key?"

Queen searched Akira's unconscious body and quickly recovered the key, then opened up the cell. Newspaper Girl skipped on out. The room inside was more comfortably furnished than the previous one. Though it was nothing fancy, there was at least a proper bed, and even a small nightstand. She was also not wrapped up in a straitjacket, which, Queen thought, was very good news, since it meant less of a headache for them.

"So good to stretch my pretty little legs," the patient said contentedly, with an air that could be likened to that of a cat purring. Her legs were not pretty at all, laced with a startling quantity of scars. An even greater number than the ones on her arms. "Now I can go get a proper knife!"

"Wait. About that key," Queen reminded her, holding out her hand expectantly.

"Right, right." Newspaper Girl retrieved a second key, similar in appearance to the other one. She held it out to Queen's waiting palm, which graciously grasped it.

 _ **G**_ _ **o**_ _ **T!  
**_ _ **Upper Asylum Key x 1**_

"This key should open that barrier, and all the cells higher up," the patient informed the thieves. "It'll also take you closer to solitary confinement, where you'll find Mother waiting if all goes well. However, I should warn you—"

She was interrupted by a loud announcement that rang throughout the asylum.

" _A PATIENT HAS BEEN RELEASED BY SOME WRETCHED CRIMINALS IN THE WEST WING!"_ Ohya Shiori's voice called out from all directions. _"PROTECT HER AND RETURN HER TO HER ROOM AT ONCE!"_

"Oh, goody!" she shouted. "Mother's onto us! This is going to be fun!"

"Look out!" Mona yelled, pointing down the hallway. Two Shadows dressed as asylum orderlies wearing smiley-faced masks were coming their way.

" _HEY! WHO'RE YOU?!"_ one of the Shadows shouted at the the thieves. _"VISITING HOURS ARE OVER!"_ They transformed into a few Jack Frosts and started laughing jovially.

" _CARMEN!"_ Panther shouted, as she dodged several Bufu attacks and Lucky Punches. _"MARAGI!"_ With that, all of the Jack Frosts were swiftly incinerated. "Wait…" Panther looked at her mask, confused, before putting it back on. "I couldn't use any stronger Fire skills just now! And I thought I had Hecate!"

"Let's get out of here!" Queen advised. "More of them are coming!"

"There's no way to go!" Oracle said, panicked. "There are enemies coming at us from every direction!"

"And nowhere to hide," Ace noted, observing the disconcerting lack of cover in the hallways. "This doesn't look good."

"How about this way?" Newspaper Girl proposed, indicating the kitchen. "You can hide in the cupboards!"

Queen turned her head to face the kitchen, and saw a completely different sight than the one in the orphanage. The asylum's kitchen was immaculate, white, and stocked with the bare necessities for food preparation. No water, no leaks, no cockroaches.

But the cupboards were very small, and she was uncertain that they would all fit. Ace, in particular, would be in danger of hitting her head, and shoving the unconscious Joker inside would prove challenging.

"Are you sure that will work?" Fox inquired. "That looks like a very small space!"

"I don't think we have much choice," Queen decided, picking up Joker and heaving him over her shoulders. "Let's do as she says!"

"Yeah, come on!" Ryuji agreed. "Let's just get the hell in there! Away from those creepy orderly dudes!"

Queen nodded at the cognitive Newspaper Girl, who theatrically curtsied and waved her arms forth to the kitchen cupboards. "After you, lovely Phantoms!"

Queen crawled in beneath the sink, followed closely by all her teammates, who hastily struggled to fit themselves in the small space. Somewhat conveniently, it did seem slightly bigger than most real life cupboards, and it was mostly empty.

Even so, it was only barely big enough to hold all of them, and they found some difficulty in allocating the space properly. Queen shoved Joker up against the wall, doing her best to ensure he was in a comfortable position.

Cognitive Newspaper Girl made her way inside as well, squeezing herself between Skull and Panther. "Well, this is certainly cozy!" she said happily. "Now all we need to do is wait for them to go!"

" _Come out, little one!"_ a Shadow was heard saying. _"You know it's not nice to leave your room when it's naptime!"_

Joker murmured something in his sleep.

* * *

Ohya Shiori locked the door to the room, the old mistress's office, where she chose to hide herself away. "No one's coming," she whispered to herself. "No one. _He's_ not coming…"

Yet, she wasn't sure. It had been a mistake, showing him this place all those years ago. She had an uneasy feeling that he would remember. That he would come back. No, it wasn't just an uneasy feeling. His arrival was imminent. He would kill them both. Her, and Pumpkin.

It was all Ichiko's fault. All her fault. She was the only one to be blamed. All she had to do… was just… just—

Shiori breathed slowly. _Just forget it. Just stay in the office. Just calm yourself. Pumpkin will be safe here. Forever._

As her mind began to ease, she remembered the happier days she had had in the orphanage. It had all started the day she'd met Otoha…

* * *

There was something else I'd missed.

The bleeding had stopped, thanks to my quick handiwork. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of a blood-soaked shirt… well, now my back was cold. Not that I really cared. What I cared about was this tiny folded square of paper that had been underneath the fan. If you weren't paying attention, it could easily be overlooked.

I took it out from the cavity in the floor. The first thing I spotted when I unfolded it were two names: _Otoha and Kazuko._

Who were they? Clearly, they were friends of my mother's. My curiosity only amplified by the discovery of this letter, I began to read…

* * *

Akira awakened in an office.

It was clean, polished, and very high up… full of bookshelves, a comfy looking chair at the desk, a few small couches, and the like. He stood up slowly, and found a small folder, labeled with a name. _"_ _一色 若葉_ _..."_

Isshiki Wakaba… Futaba's mother's name?! And the subject on the front cover.

"Cognitive psience," Akira whispered. "Why would it be that the research is…"

He stood up and looked around. Akira was now dressed in his normal Shujin uniform, and the room was otherwise empty. Where was he? He needed to get back to Shiori's Palace… oh.

The plaque on the desk read _"_ _獅童 正義"_

 _What?_ What was Akira doing in _his_ office of all places?

"What are you doing here?!"

Akira spun around, to see Akechi standing behind him, looking confused and annoyed.

"How did you get into my dream world?!" Akechi demanded. "That shouldn't have been possible!"

"I-I-I…"

Akira wasn't sure how it had happened either.

"don't… know…" Joker moaned quietly.

* * *

"Is something wrong with Joker?" Fox wondered. "He seems to be quite restless."

"Oh," Mona said, "well, he's probably there again. He tends to do that when it happens."

"Wait…" Skull seemed confused. "When what happens?"

"When he visits the dream world!" Mona clarified, annoyed, as though it should have been obvious.

"I hope he's alright." Queen was quite worried. She hoped that Joker wouldn't be a useless mess when he awakened.

Cognitive Newspaper Girl poked her head out of the cupboard. "Okay," she told them, "it's all clear! You can go now!"

"Are you coming with us?" Noir asked.

She laughed in her usual insane way. "Nope! I've got a wrist to slit! See you all later!"

"See you all later?" Skull asked, baffled. "You'll be dead!"

"Skull. Shh," Oracle told him. "I think that odds are good we'll see her again somehow."

"What? Oh uh… never mind!" Skull decided. He turned to look at Queen, who was struggling to lift Joker. "Queen, do you need help there?"

"Yeah, Skull," Queen requested, "could you please help me carry Joker out of here He's really heavy."

"Yeah, no problem," Skull said helpfully, taking his friend by the legs while Queen took the shoulders. "I guess you would know better than me how heavy he is."

At this quip, Queen blushed a little. "S-Shut up."

The Phantom Thieves exited the kitchen, while the patient grabbed a knife from the cutlery cabinet.

Queen inserted the new key into the wall displaying the huge picture, turned it, and then it began to split apart. In the area beyond—

"Uhh, Queen?" Skull asked. "How the hell are we gonna get Joker up those stairs?!"

—there was a huge winding upside-down stairwell, which appeared inverted. The stairs themselves were on the underside. The door to which it led was also upside-down.

"Oh nooo," Oracle groaned, "I'm gonna get sick climbing that!"

"Just close your eyes," Ace advised. "I've found in the past that that helps quite a bit with motion sickness."

"Once we start, you'll get used to it," Mona promised. "They'll be just like any other stairs. Now, let's go!"

Mona turned himself sideways as he made the first step onto the odd stairs, and began walking up and away from the floor. The rest of the team followed suit. Oracle almost puked, but in the end she survived.

"That was an interesting experience," Fox commented. "It was quite like a painting I once saw of a community living in an upside down world."

"I… wanna… go home…" Oracle gasped, her face twisted.

"How strange that Shiori would think of staircases that way," Noir noted.

"Let's go on," Queen advised. She had felt sick as well. Carrying Joker up those stairs had been quite a challenging task, and Skull was panting, so it seemed he felt the same.

But she was trying her very best not to show her fatigue. "We've got no time to waste."

In the next room they entered, the team found another film…

"What's this one about?" Panther wondered. It began playing, still in black-and-white, but this time with sound.

" _Hey!"_

The call came from an excited little girl.

The film cut to a wide shot of young Ohya Shiori, standing at the edge of the orphanage's roof. Looking down upon the driveway below.

She turned around to face the one who had interrupted, and…

* * *

 _ **The end.**_

 _ **Yep. That's the end. Yeah, Shiori jumped and died. Didn't ya know? She was a ghost this whole time? Yeah! My ultimate Persona headcanon! Ghosts can have Palaces! And raise kids! And... uh...**_

 _ **I'm pretty certain Mac would have never let me hear the end of it if I tried that.**_

 _ **But, next chapter will tell how Shiori was saved, cause, y'know, it has to have happened. AAAAND I will try to focus more on other cool stuff, like how crazy Akechi is and stuff. Other stuff will happen. Things will be cool. I also have a second, shorter story in the works that I think you will all like very much. Please look forward to it!**_

 _ **(I wonder how much sleep I'll get tonight)**_

 **If I had my way, you'd be sleepin' for the next 20 hours... and honestly, I prolly would be, too. Where's *my* Morgana, gosh dang it? (JK)**

 **This chapter was fun. I've always enjoyed platformers where gravity's all weird and you can run around on the ceiling and walls as well as the floor. Up next is a bunch of good stuff, followed by some fun stuff, followed by great stuff! And I'm sure Josiah will find some time in there to catch some sleep, as I know I will.**

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day~!**


	31. A Note About (The Lack Of) Updates

Hi everyone! I have an announcement to make about the status of the story, at least on FF. I've been making updates to my works a lot on AO3, and not on FF. If you've been wondering why that is, well, it's because I don't intend to update stuff on FF anymore. So, that's basically the gist of this: if you want to read more, you'll have to go find my stuff on AO3.

There are a couple of reasons for this. As of late, I've been using a lot of CSS styling in newer chapters of the story, in an effort to emulate Persona 5's UI in text. I recently decided to polish and republish older chapters of the story, both to clean up plot inconsistencies and add such color styling earlier on, so that it is spread all throughout and not only just when I thought of it. CSS isn't a feature supported on FF, and in general, their user interface isn't as nice to me as it is on AO3. FF does all sorts of weird things (like deleting triple exclamation points) and their posting process is not as straightforward. I found it a real headache to be dual posting on here and AO3, and adapting my work to fit the format here, so I just stopped doing it.

So, yeah, there's not much to say. I just don't see a reason to keep dual-posting and I don't feel like it. Sorry if that inconveniences anyone who for some reason doesn't want to or can't use AO3.

If you are willing to switch over there, I hope you keep reading and enjoy what I have coming up next. (My username is the same there as it is here, so it shouldn't be hard to find.) Thank you all for your support!


End file.
